Last week an appellate court agreed that because a client lied on a bankruptcy petition when he denied making pre-petition transfers to his wife--he could not blame his attorney who prepared the form. A federal bankruptcy court had denied the plaintiff a discharge of his debts finding that he made a false statement with intent to defraud when he signed the Petition for Bankruptcy. Despite claiming that he didn't read the document in its entirety before signing it, the form itself contains a statement that "I have read the answers contained in the foregoing statement of financial affairs".

The cause of action for legal malpractice in preparing the Petition was dismissed based on principles of collateral estoppel (you don't get two bites of the apple). However, the plaintiff was allowed to proceed with his legal malpractice claim based on the alleged failure to to file an Amended Petition to correct the omission of pre-petition transfers to creditors and his wife. A jury may decide that issue. Gobindram v Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, PC, 2019 WL 3938550