You are here: / / Failure to Appeal Dismissal of Underlying Medical Malpractice Action Did...
, , ,

Failure to Appeal Dismissal of Underlying Medical Malpractice Action Did Not Preclude Related Legal Malpractice Action

The Fourth Department, over a dissent, allowed a legal malpractice action to go forward, finding that the plaintiff’s failure to appeal the dismissal of the underlying federal medical malpractice action did not preclude the related legal malpractice action. In the federal action, the court determined a physician was an independent contractor, not a government employee, and therefore had to be named individually as a defendant. The action against the physician was dismissed as time-barred. The dissent argued “if plaintiff had been successful in his appeal of the underlying federal action, we would not have a subsequent legal malpractice case.”  In holding that the failure to appeal the federal ruling did not preclude the legal malpractice action, the Fourth Department distinguished a prior case, Rupert v Gates and Adams, PC, 83 AD3d 1383, relied upon by the defendants:

We reject defendants’ invitation to extend the ruling in Rupert to a per se rule that a party who voluntarily discontinues an underlying action and forgoes an appeal thereby abandons his or her right to pursue a claim for legal malpractice. …

Although the precise question presented herein appears to be an issue of first impression in New York, we note that several of our sister states have rejected the per se rule advanced by defendants herein… .  … [S]uch a rule would force parties to prosecute potentially meritless appeals to their judicial conclusion in order to preserve their right to commence a malpractice action, thereby increasing the costs of litigation and overburdening the court system ….  The additional time spent to pursue an unlikely appellate remedy could also result in expiration of the statute of limitations on the legal malpractice claim ….  Further, requiring parties to exhaust the appellate process prior to commencing a legal malpractice action would discourage settlements and potentially conflict with an injured party’s duty to mitigate damages… .  Grace v Law, et al, 625, 4th Dept 7-19-13

 

You might also like
DEFENDANT SAID HE WOULD NOT GO TO THE POLICE STATION WITHOUT A PARENT OR AN ATTORNEY, THAT CONSTITUTED AN ASSERTION OF HIS RIGHT TO COUNSEL, SUBSEQUENT STATEMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SUPPRESSED (FOURTH DEPT).
Attorney’s Charging Lien Based Upon a Judgment for Child Support Arrears Was Proper—Relevant Law Explained
STATEMENT MADE BY THE ASSAULT VICTIM 12 TO 15 MINUTES AFTER THE ASSAULT WAS PROPERLY ADMITTED AS AN EXCITED UTTERANCE (FOURTH DEPT).
QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER THE ROAD ON WHICH PLAINTIFF WAS DRIVING HIS ATV WHEN HE WAS INJURED WAS SUITABLE FOR RECREATIONAL USE, SUMMARY JUDGMENT FINDING THE LANDOWNER WAS IMMUNE FROM SUIT UNDER THE RECREATIONAL USE IMMUNITY PROVISION OF GENERAL OBLIGATIONS LAW 9-103 SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED 4TH DEPT.
DESCRIPTION OF CLOTHES WORN BY THE SUSPECT DID NOT MATCH THE CLOTHES WORN BY THE MAN OBSERVED BY THE POLICE, THE STOP OF THE CAR THE MAN GOT INTO WAS NOT JUSTIFIED BY REASONABLE SUSPICION OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, SEIZED WEAPONS SHOULD HAVE BEEN SUPPRESSED.
SUPREME COURT’S VACATION OF THE ARBITRATION AWARD AS “IRRATIONAL” REVERSED, CRITERIA EXPLAINED (FOURTH DEPT).
FALL FROM TRUCK BED 20 INCHES ABOVE THE GROUND NOT COVERED BY LABOR LAW 240 (1).
THE JUDGE’S ASSESSING SORA RISK-LEVEL POINTS NOT REQUESTED BY THE PEOPLE VIOLATED DEFENDANT’S RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS OF LAW; THE JUDGE FAILED TO MAKE THE FINDINGS REQUIRED BY THE CORRECTION LAW FOR AN UPWARD DEPARTURE; DETERMINATION VACATED (FOURTH DEPT).

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

Fact that Medical Guidelines May Be Available to the Public Does Not Warrant... Pecuniary Loss Defined