You are here: / Attorneys
, , ,

ALLEGATIONS OF NEGLIGENCE IN A LEGAL MALPRACTICE CONTEXT DO NOT SUPPORT A CAUSE OF ACTION ALLEGING A JUDICIARY LAW 487 VIOLATION, INTENT TO DECEIVE MUST BE ALLEGED WITH PARTICULARITY, JUDICIARY LAW CAUSE OF ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department determined the causes of action alleging legal malpractice, breach of contract, and fraud were properly dismissed. The court further found that the cause of action alleging a violation of Judiciary Law 487 should have been dismissed as well, noting that allegations of negligence do not meet the “intent to deceive” element of a Judiciary Law action:

Contrary to the defendants' contention, the cause of action alleging a violation of Judiciary Law § 487 was not duplicative of the cause of action alleging legal malpractice. “A violation of Judiciary Law § 487 requires an intent to deceive, whereas a legal malpractice claim is based on negligent conduct” … .

Nevertheless, the Supreme Court should have granted that branch of the defendants' motion which was for summary judgment dismissing the cause of action alleging a violation of Judiciary Law § 487. A chronic extreme pattern of legal delinquency is not a basis for liability pursuant to Judiciary Law § 487 … . Further, the plaintiffs failed to allege sufficient facts demonstrating that the defendant attorneys had the “intent to deceive the court or any party” … . Allegations regarding an act of deceit or intent to deceive must be stated with particularity (see CPLR 3016[b]… ). That the defendants commenced the underlying action on behalf of the plaintiffs and the plaintiffs failed to prevail in that action does not provide a basis for a cause of action alleging a violation of Judiciary Law § 487 to recover the legal fees incurred. Bill Birds, Inc. v Stein Law Firm, P.C., 2018 NY Slip Op 05743, Second Dept 8-15-18

ATTORNEYS (ALLEGATIONS OF NEGLIGENCE IN A LEGAL MALPRACTICE ACTION DO NOT SUPPORT A CAUSE OF ACTION ALLEGING A JUDICIARY LAW 487 VIOLATION, INTENT TO DECEIVE MUST BE ALLEGED WITH PARTICULARITY, JUDICIARY LAW CAUSE OF ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (SECOND DEPT))/LEGAL MALPRACTICE  (ALLEGATIONS OF NEGLIGENCE IN A LEGAL MALPRACTICE ACTION DO NOT SUPPORT A CAUSE OF ACTION ALLEGING A JUDICIARY LAW 487 VIOLATION, INTENT TO DECEIVE MUST BE ALLEGED WITH PARTICULARITY, JUDICIARY LAW CAUSE OF ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (SECOND DEPT))/NEGLIGENCE (LEGAL MALPRACTICE, ALLEGATIONS OF NEGLIGENCE IN A LEGAL MALPRACTICE ACTION DO NOT SUPPORT A CAUSE OF ACTION ALLEGING A JUDICIARY LAW 487 VIOLATION, INTENT TO DECEIVE MUST BE ALLEGED WITH PARTICULARITY, JUDICIARY LAW CAUSE OF ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (SECOND DEPT))/CIVIL PROCEDURE (JUDICIARY LAW 487, ALLEGATIONS OF NEGLIGENCE IN A LEGAL MALPRACTICE ACTION DO NOT SUPPORT A CAUSE OF ACTION ALLEGING A JUDICIARY LAW 487 VIOLATION, INTENT TO DECEIVE MUST BE ALLEGED WITH PARTICULARITY, JUDICIARY LAW CAUSE OF ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (SECOND DEPT))/CPLR 3016 (JUDICIARY LAW 487, ALLEGATIONS OF NEGLIGENCE IN A LEGAL MALPRACTICE ACTION DO NOT SUPPORT A CAUSE OF ACTION ALLEGING A JUDICIARY LAW 487 VIOLATION, INTENT TO DECEIVE MUST BE ALLEGED WITH PARTICULARITY, JUDICIARY LAW CAUSE OF ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (SECOND DEPT))/JUDICIARY LAW 487 (ATTORNEYS, CIVIL PROCEDURE, ALLEGATIONS OF NEGLIGENCE IN A LEGAL MALPRACTICE ACTION DO NOT SUPPORT A CAUSE OF ACTION ALLEGING A JUDICIARY LAW 487 VIOLATION, INTENT TO DECEIVE MUST BE ALLEGED WITH PARTICULARITY, JUDICIARY LAW CAUSE OF ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (SECOND DEPT))

, , ,

HUSBAND’S ATTORNEY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISQUALIFIED ON THE GROUND SHE WOULD BE A WITNESS FOR THE WIFE, PLENARY ACTION SEEKING TO SET ASIDE A PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT PROPERLY JOINED WITH DIVORCE ACTION, INTERIM ATTORNEY’S FEES NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE ACTION TO SET ASIDE THE PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court, determined (1) husband's counsel should not have been disqualified on the ground she would be a witness, (2) the plenary action seeking to set aside the prenuptial agreement on grounds of duress, coercion, undue influence and unconscionabiltiy is properly joined with the divorce action, (3) and interim attorney's fees are not available for the action to set aside the prenuptial agreement:

Rule 3.7 of the Rules of Professional Conduct… provides that, unless certain exceptions apply, “[a] lawyer shall not act as advocate before a tribunal in a matter in which the lawyer is likely to be a witness on a significant issue of fact” … . In order to disqualify counsel on the ground that he or she may be called as a witness, a party moving for disqualification must demonstrate that (1) the testimony of the opposing party's counsel is necessary to his or her case, and (2) such testimony would be prejudicial to the opposing party… . Here, the wife failed to demonstrate that [the attorney's] testimony will be necessary to her case … . …

“The trial court has broad discretion in determining whether to order consolidation”(… see CPLR 602[a]). The interests of justice and judicial economy are better served by consolidation or a joint trial in those cases where the actions share material questions of law or fact … . A motion to consolidate or join for trial should be granted absent a showing of prejudice to a substantial right by a party opposing the motion … . …

The Supreme Court should not have awarded the wife interim counsel fees in the sum of $10,000 pursuant to Domestic Relations Law § 237, as that statute does not permit the recovery of fees for legal work performed on nonmatrimonial matters, including where, as here, a party seeks an award of counsel fees incurred in an action to set aside a prenuptial agreement … . Lombardi v Lombardi, 2018 NY Slip Op 05758, Second Dept 8-15-18

FAMILY LAW (HUSBAND'S ATTORNEY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISQUALIFIED ON THE GROUND SHE WOULD BE A WITNESS FOR THE WIFE, PLENARY ACTION SEEKING TO SET ASIDE A PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT PROPERLY JOINED WITH DIVORCE ACTION, INTERIM ATTORNEY'S FEES NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE ACTION TO SET ASIDE THE PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT (SECOND DEPT))/ATTORNEYS (FAMILY LAW, HUSBAND'S ATTORNEY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISQUALIFIED ON THE GROUND SHE WOULD BE A WITNESS FOR THE WIFE, PLENARY ACTION SEEKING TO SET ASIDE A PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT PROPERLY JOINED WITH DIVORCE ACTION, INTERIM ATTORNEY'S FEES NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE ACTION TO SET ASIDE THE PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT (SECOND DEPT))/CIVIL PROCEDURE (HUSBAND'S ATTORNEY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISQUALIFIED ON THE GROUND SHE WOULD BE A WITNESS FOR THE WIFE, PLENARY ACTION SEEKING TO SET ASIDE A PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT PROPERLY JOINED WITH DIVORCE ACTION, INTERIM ATTORNEY'S FEES NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE ACTION TO SET ASIDE THE PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT (SECOND DEPT))/CPLR 602  (HUSBAND'S ATTORNEY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISQUALIFIED ON THE GROUND SHE WOULD BE A WITNESS FOR THE WIFE, PLENARY ACTION SEEKING TO SET ASIDE A PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT PROPERLY JOINED WITH DIVORCE ACTION, INTERIM ATTORNEY'S FEES NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE ACTION TO SET ASIDE THE PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT (SECOND DEPT))/CONTRACT LAW (PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT, HUSBAND'S ATTORNEY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISQUALIFIED ON THE GROUND SHE WOULD BE A WITNESS FOR THE WIFE, PLENARY ACTION SEEKING TO SET ASIDE A PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT PROPERLY JOINED WITH DIVORCE ACTION, INTERIM ATTORNEY'S FEES NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE ACTION TO SET ASIDE THE PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT (SECOND DEPT))/PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT  (HUSBAND'S ATTORNEY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISQUALIFIED ON THE GROUND SHE WOULD BE A WITNESS FOR THE WIFE, PLENARY ACTION SEEKING TO SET ASIDE A PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT PROPERLY JOINED WITH DIVORCE ACTION, INTERIM ATTORNEY'S FEES NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE ACTION TO SET ASIDE THE PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT (SECOND DEPT))

,

Petitioner Denied Right to Assistance of Counsel—Dismissal and Expungement Ordered

The Third Department determined the inmate was denied his right to “seek and receive the assistance of attorneys” requiring dismissal and expungement:

Petitioner here sought to discuss the disciplinary proceedings with retained counsel, but prison officials prohibited personal and telephonic contact between the two prior to the disciplinary hearing.  To be sure, inmates do not “have a right to either retained or appointed counsel in disciplinary proceedings” … .  They remain, however, entitled to “a reasonable opportunity to seek and receive the assistance of attorneys” with regard to issues of concern to them … .  Petitioner was deprived of such an opportunity, which amounted to unjustifiable interference with his right to “marshal the facts and prepare a defense” under the circumstances of this case and requires dismissal of the remaining charge and expungement from his institutional record … .  Matter of Jeckel v NYS Dept of Corr, 515391, 3rd Dept 11-27-13

ATTORNEYS, RIGHT TO COUNSEL

,

CHILD’S ATTORNEY HAD STANDING TO OBJECT TO THE SUPPORT MAGISTRATE’S CHILD SUPPORT RULINGS, AN ADOPTIVE SUBSIDY IS A RESOURCE OF THE ADOPTED CHILD AND SHOULD BE PAID TO THE ADOPTIVE MOTHER ON THE CHILD’S BEHALF UNTIL THE CHILD TURNS 21, EVEN THOUGH MOTHER NO LONGER CARES FOR THE CHILD (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Gesmer, reversing Family Court, determined (1) the adopted child’s attorney had standing to object to the child support rulings, and (2) the child had the right to receive the adoption subsidy until 21. Mother had consented to the child being cared for by a guardian and thereafter mother voluntarily discontinued the adoptive subsidy. Family Court had found the court could not force mother to receive the subsidy. The First Department determined the subsidy is the child’s resource and mother is to receive the subsidy on the child’s behalf:

Although the mother argues that Family Court Act § 439(e) restricts the filing of objections to a “party or parties,” we find that her reading is too narrow. That section does not prohibit children’s attorneys, where appointed, from filing or rebutting objections to a Support Magistrate’s order for three reasons. First, the statute is focused on the time frame for filing and not on the identity of the filers. It appears that the words “party” and “parties” are used in the general sense of persons or entities who have been served with a copy of the support order, rather than the strict sense of petitioner and respondent.

Second, children’s attorneys are expected to participate fully in proceedings in which they are appointed. We base this conclusion on the broad language of section 249 authorizing appointment of attorneys for children in any type of proceeding, the legislative finding that children’s attorneys can be “indispensable to a practical realization of due process of law”… , and the obligation of attorneys for children to zealously advocate for their clients and generally adhere to the ethical requirements applicable to all attorneys … . It would make little sense for Family Court to be permitted to appoint attorneys for children in child support cases to assist it in carrying out the purposes of the Family Court Act and then not permit those attorneys to file or respond to objections. Indeed, published opinions in other cases acknowledge that they have been permitted to do so … . * * *

Family Court erred in determining that a deviation based on the subsidy would be improper because it would “force” the mother to take steps to undo the subsidy’s suspension. Awarding child support in the amount of the subsidy is not unlike awarding support based on a parent’s historic earning potential, which similarly requires the parent to do what the court has determined he or she is capable of doing based on past performance.

Family Court further erred in failing to properly consider the 10 factors set forth in FCA § 413(1)(f) to determine whether the mother’s basic child support obligation is unjust or inappropriate. In particular, Family Court should have considered the first three statutory factors — the financial resources of the child, the physical and emotional health of the child and his special needs and aptitudes, and the standard of living the child would have enjoyed had he continued to reside with his mother — and the 10th factor: “[a]ny other factors the court determines are relevant in each case.” Considering these factors, we find that awarding child support in at least the amount of the subsidy for so long as the mother is eligible to receive it on the child’s behalf is an appropriate deviation from the basic child support obligation … . Matter of Barbara T. v Acquinetta M., 2018 NY Slip Op 05736, First Dept 8-9-18

FAMILY LAW (ATTORNEYS, CHILD SUPPORT, ADOPTIVE SUBSIDY, CHILD’S ATTORNEY HAD STANDING TO OBJECT TO THE SUPPORT MAGISTRATE’S SUPPORT RULINGS, AN ADOPTIVE SUBSIDY IS A RESOURCE OF THE ADOPTED CHILD AND SHOULD BE PAID TO THE ADOPTIVE MOTHER ON THE CHILD’S BEHALF UNTIL THE CHILD TURNS 21, EVEN THOUGH MOTHER NO LONGER CARES FOR THE CHILD (FIRST DEPT))/ATTORNEYS (FAMILY LAW, CHILD SUPPORT, CHILD’S ATTORNEY HAD STANDING TO OBJECT TO THE SUPPORT MAGISTRATE’S SUPPORT RULINGS, AN ADOPTIVE SUBSIDY IS A RESOURCE OF THE ADOPTED CHILD AND SHOULD BE PAID TO THE ADOPTIVE MOTHER ON THE CHILD’S BEHALF UNTIL THE CHILD TURNS 21, EVEN THOUGH MOTHER NO LONGER CARES FOR THE CHILD (FIRST DEPT))/CHILD SUPPORT (FAMILY LAW, ADOPTIVE SUBSIDY,CHILD’S ATTORNEY HAD STANDING TO OBJECT TO THE SUPPORT MAGISTRATE’S SUPPORT RULINGS, AN ADOPTIVE SUBSIDY IS A RESOURCE OF THE ADOPTED CHILD AND SHOULD BE PAID TO THE ADOPTIVE MOTHER ON THE CHILD’S BEHALF UNTIL THE CHILD TURNS 21, EVEN THOUGH MOTHER NO LONGER CARES FOR THE CHILD (FIRST DEPT))/ADOPTIVE SUBSIDY (FAMILY LAW, CHILD SUPPORT, CHILD’S ATTORNEY HAD STANDING TO OBJECT TO THE SUPPORT MAGISTRATE’S SUPPORT RULINGS, AN ADOPTIVE SUBSIDY IS A RESOURCE OF THE ADOPTED CHILD AND SHOULD BE PAID TO THE ADOPTIVE MOTHER ON THE CHILD’S BEHALF UNTIL THE CHILD TURNS 21, EVEN THOUGH MOTHER NO LONGER CARES FOR THE CHILD (FIRST DEPT))/ADOPTIVE SUBSIDY (CHILD SUPPORT, FAMILY LAW, CHILD’S ATTORNEY HAD STANDING TO OBJECT TO THE SUPPORT MAGISTRATE’S SUPPORT RULINGS, AN ADOPTIVE SUBSIDY IS A RESOURCE OF THE ADOPTED CHILD AND SHOULD BE PAID TO THE ADOPTIVE MOTHER ON THE CHILD’S BEHALF UNTIL THE CHILD TURNS 21, EVEN THOUGH MOTHER NO LONGER CARES FOR THE CHILD (FIRST DEPT))

, , ,

DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE IN FAILING TO REQUEST A FRYE HEARING CONCERNING A COMPUTER PROGRAM USED TO INTERPRET MIXED DNA SAMPLES, APPEAL HELD IN ABEYANCE AND MATTER REMITTED FOR A HEARING (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department determined defense counsel was ineffective in failing to request a Frye hearing concerning a computer program, the TrueAllele Caaswork system, used to interpret mixed DNA samples. The appeal was held in abeyance and the matter remitted for the hearing:

​Defendant asserts that his trial counsel should have challenged, by way of a Frye hearing, the reliability of the TrueAllele Casework system, the proprietary “computer program that use[d] mathematics and statistics to interpret” the electronic data generated from the DNA mixtures taken from the lavender gloves and determine the statistical probability of a match between defendant’s DNA and that found on the inside of the gloves. A Frye hearing ascertains the reliability of “novel scientific evidence” by determining “whether the accepted techniques, when properly performed, generate results accepted as reliable within the scientific community generally”… . At the time of defendant’s pretrial proceedings in 2014, there were no reported trial court or appellate court decisions in this state establishing that the reliability of the TrueAllele Casework system had been assessed through a Frye hearing or that any court in the state had otherwise accepted expert testimony regarding that proprietary computer program… . Given these circumstances, we do not find that it would have been futile for defense counsel to have requested a Frye hearing to challenge the reliability of the TrueAllele Casework system or that such an application would have had little or no likelihood of success … . People v Wilson, 2018 NY Slip Op 05715, Third Dept 8-9-18

CRIMINAL LAW (DNA, FRYE HEARING, INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE, DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE IN FAILING TO REQUEST A FRYE HEARING CONCERNING A COMPUTER PROGRAM USED TO INTERPRET MIXED DNA SAMPLES, APPEAL HELD IN ABEYANCE AND MATTER REMITTED FOR A HEARING (THIRD DEPT))/EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, DNA, FRYE HEARING, INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE, DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE IN FAILING TO REQUEST A FRYE HEARING CONCERNING A COMPUTER PROGRAM USED TO INTERPRET MIXED DNA SAMPLES, APPEAL HELD IN ABEYANCE AND MATTER REMITTED FOR A HEARING (THIRD DEPT))/APPEALS (CRIMINAL LAW, DNA, FRYE HEARING, INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE, DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE IN FAILING TO REQUEST A FRYE HEARING CONCERNING A COMPUTER PROGRAM USED TO INTERPRET MIXED DNA SAMPLES, APPEAL HELD IN ABEYANCE AND MATTER REMITTED FOR A HEARING (THIRD DEPT))/DNA (CRIMINAL LAW, FRYE HEARING, INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE, DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE IN FAILING TO REQUEST A FRYE HEARING CONCERNING A COMPUTER PROGRAM USED TO INTERPRET MIXED DNA SAMPLES, APPEAL HELD IN ABEYANCE AND MATTER REMITTED FOR A HEARING (THIRD DEPT))/FRYE HEARING (CRIMINAL LAW, DNA, INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE, DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE IN FAILING TO REQUEST A FRYE HEARING CONCERNING A COMPUTER PROGRAM USED TO INTERPRET MIXED DNA SAMPLES, APPEAL HELD IN ABEYANCE AND MATTER REMITTED FOR A HEARING (THIRD DEPT))/TRUEALLELE CASEWORK SYSTEM (CRIMINAL LAW, DNA, FRYE HEARING, INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE, DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE IN FAILING TO REQUEST A FRYE HEARING CONCERNING A COMPUTER PROGRAM USED TO INTERPRET MIXED DNA SAMPLES, APPEAL HELD IN ABEYANCE AND MATTER REMITTED FOR A HEARING (THIRD DEPT))/ATTORNEYS (CRIMINAL LAW, DNA, FRYE HEARING, INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE, DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE IN FAILING TO REQUEST A FRYE HEARING CONCERNING A COMPUTER PROGRAM USED TO INTERPRET MIXED DNA SAMPLES, APPEAL HELD IN ABEYANCE AND MATTER REMITTED FOR A HEARING (THIRD DEPT))/INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE (DNA, FRYE HEARING, INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE, DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE IN FAILING TO REQUEST A FRYE HEARING CONCERNING A COMPUTER PROGRAM USED TO INTERPRET MIXED DNA SAMPLES, APPEAL HELD IN ABEYANCE AND MATTER REMITTED FOR A HEARING (THIRD DEPT))/APPEALS (CRIMINAL LAW, FRYE HEARING, INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE, DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE IN FAILING TO REQUEST A FRYE HEARING CONCERNING A COMPUTER PROGRAM USED TO INTERPRET MIXED DNA SAMPLES, APPEAL HELD IN ABEYANCE AND MATTER REMITTED FOR A HEARING (THIRD DEPT))

,

ATTORNEYS FOR THE EXECUTOR OF THE ESTATE IN A REMOVAL PROCEEDING SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISQUALIFIED BASED UPON THEIR PRIOR REPRESENTATION OF DECEDENT’S WIFE FOR HER ESTATE PLANNING (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Surrogate’s Court, determined the law firm representing the executor and trustee of the estate in a removal proceeding should not have been disqualified based upon the firm’s prior representation of the decedent’s wife, Sandra, for Sandra’s estate planning:

” A party seeking disqualification of it[s] adversary’s counsel based on counsel’s purported prior representation of that party must establish (1) the existence of a prior attorney-client relationship between the moving party and opposing counsel, (2) that the matters involved in both representations are substantially related, and (3) that the interests of the present client and former client are materially adverse'” … . “When the moving party is able to demonstrate each of these factors, an irrebuttable presumption of disqualification follows”… . ” A party’s entitlement to be represented in ongoing litigation by counsel of his or her own choosing is a valued right which should not be abridged absent a clear showing that disqualification is warranted'”… .

Here, although the law firm had a prior attorney-client relationship with Sandra in connection with her own estate planning, which may have been intertwined somewhat with that of the decedent, the record does not reveal that the law firm’s prior representation of Sandra is substantially related or materially adverse to the removal proceedings. In the removal proceedings, Sandra’s estate is not being administered or litigated, and there is nothing to suggest that any confidences with Sandra might be breached by the law firm’s representation of the appellant in his capacity as executor and trustee of the decedent’s estate … . Matter of Kopet, 2018 NY Slip Op 05678, Second Dept 8-8-18

ATTORNEYS (DISQUALIFICATION, ATTORNEYS FOR THE EXECUTOR OF THE ESTATE IN A REMOVAL PROCEEDING SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISQUALIFIED BASED UPON THEIR PRIOR REPRESENTATION OF DECEDENT’S WIFE FOR HER ESTATE PLANNING (SECOND DEPT))/TRUSTS AND ESTATES (ATTORNEYS, DISQUALIFICATION, ATTORNEYS FOR THE EXECUTOR OF THE ESTATE IN A REMOVAL PROCEEDING SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISQUALIFIED BASED UPON THEIR PRIOR REPRESENTATION OF DECEDENT’S WIFE FOR HER ESTATE PLANNING (SECOND DEPT))/DISQUALIFICATION (ATTORNEYS, TRUSTS AND ESTATES,  ATTORNEYS FOR THE EXECUTOR OF THE ESTATE IN A REMOVAL PROCEEDING SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISQUALIFIED BASED UPON THEIR PRIOR REPRESENTATION OF DECEDENT’S WIFE FOR HER ESTATE PLANNING (SECOND DEPT))

, ,

CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING WHETHER A PROTECTIVE ORDER PROHIBITING THE DEPOSITION OF OPPOSING COUNSEL SHOULD BE GRANTED EXPLAINED, MATTER REMANDED (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, over a concurring memorandum, defined the procedure for determining whether opposing counsel can be deposed. Counsel had requested a protective order prohibiting the deposition. The matter was remanded for a ruling based upon the criteria described as follows:

… [D]efendants’ counsel has made a prima facie showing that the material sought is irrelevant and/or that the process is not calculated to lead to legitimate discovery, whether because the information sought is privileged or because the true purpose of the subpoena is solely to disqualify him.  …

… [W]e remand this matter to the motion court for further proceedings to determine whether plaintiffs have shown that the information they seek in deposing defendants’ counsel is material and necessary… , that they have a good faith basis for seeking it … , and that the information is not available from another source. Should the motion court allow the deposition to proceed, it should be without prejudice to counsel’s objection to specific questions to the extent that the answers would reveal information that is privileged or otherwise protected from discovery (CPLR 3101). Liberty Petroleum Realty, LLC v Gulf Oil, L.P., 2018 NY Slip Op 05624, First Dept 8-2-18

CIVIL PROCEDURE (CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING WHETHER A PROTECTIVE ORDER PROHIBITING THE DEPOSITION OF OPPOSING COUNSEL SHOULD BE GRANTED EXPLAINED, MATTER REMANDED (FIRST DEPT))/PRIVILEGE (ATTORNEY-CLIENT, CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING WHETHER A PROTECTIVE ORDER PROHIBITING THE DEPOSITION OF OPPOSING COUNSEL SHOULD BE GRANTED EXPLAINED, MATTER REMANDED (FIRST DEPT))/ATTORNEYS (DEPOSITION OF OPPOSING COUNSEL, CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING WHETHER A PROTECTIVE ORDER PROHIBITING THE DEPOSITION OF OPPOSING COUNSEL SHOULD BE GRANTED EXPLAINED, MATTER REMANDED (FIRST DEPT))/DISCOVERY (DEPOSITION OF OPPOSING COUNSEL, CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING WHETHER A PROTECTIVE ORDER PROHIBITING THE DEPOSITION OF OPPOSING COUNSEL SHOULD BE GRANTED EXPLAINED, MATTER REMANDED (FIRST DEPT))/PROTECTIVE ORDER (DEPOSITION OF OPPOSING COUNSEL, CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING WHETHER A PROTECTIVE ORDER PROHIBITING THE DEPOSITION OF OPPOSING COUNSEL SHOULD BE GRANTED EXPLAINED, MATTER REMANDED (FIRST DEPT))

,

DEFENDANT NOT GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLAIN HIS REQUEST TO WITHDRAW HIS GUILTY PLEA, DEFENSE COUNSEL INDICATED THERE WAS NO REASON FOR THE WITHDRAWAL, MATTER REMITTED FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE REQUEST WITH NEW COUNSEL (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department determined defendant should have been given an opportunity to explain the reasons for his request to withdraw his plea and defense counsel should not have indicated he did not believe there was a basis for the request. Matter was remitted for consideration of the request with new counsel:

“The nature and extent of the fact-finding procedures prerequisite to the disposition of [motions to withdraw a plea of guilty] rest largely in the discretion of the Judge to whom the motion is made” … . While in “rare instance[s]” a defendant will be entitled to an evidentiary hearing, often “a limited interrogation by the court will suffice” … , and when a motion “is patently insufficient on its face, a court may simply deny the motion without making any inquiry” … . Nevertheless, “[t]he defendant should be afforded reasonable opportunity to present his contentions and the court should [*2]be enabled to make an informed determination” … .

Moreover, “a defendant has a right to the effective assistance of counsel on his or her motion to withdraw a guilty plea” … . Counsel “takes a position adverse to his client,” depriving him or her of meaningful representation, “when stating that the defendant’s motion lacks merit” … . People v Caputo, 2018 NY Slip Op 05481, Second Dept 7-25-18

CRIMINAL LAW (DEFENDANT NOT GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLAIN HIS REQUEST TO WITHDRAW HIS GUILTY PLEA, DEFENSE COUNSEL INDICATED THERE WAS NO REASON FOR THE WITHDRAWAL, MATTER REMITTED FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE REQUEST WITH NEW COUNSEL (SECOND DEPT))/ATTORNEYS (CRIMINAL LAW, DEFENDANT NOT GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLAIN HIS REQUEST TO WITHDRAW HIS GUILTY PLEA, DEFENSE COUNSEL INDICATED THERE WAS NO REASON FOR THE WITHDRAWAL, MATTER REMITTED FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE REQUEST WITH NEW COUNSEL (SECOND DEPT))/PLEA, WITHDRAWAL OF  (DEFENDANT NOT GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLAIN HIS REQUEST TO WITHDRAW HIS GUILTY PLEA, DEFENSE COUNSEL INDICATED THERE WAS NO REASON FOR THE WITHDRAWAL, MATTER REMITTED FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE REQUEST WITH NEW COUNSEL (SECOND DEPT))

, ,

DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS NOT INEFFECTIVE FOR FAILURE TO MOVE TO SUPPRESS THE RESULTS OF THE WARRANTLESS SEARCH OF A GARBAGE BAG AND CELL-SITE LOCATION RECORDS WHICH WERE JUSTIFIED BY EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES , AND DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS NOT INEFFECTIVE FOR FAILING TO OBJECT TO THE PROSECUTOR’S MISCHARACTERIZATION OF THE STRENGTH OF DNA EVIDENCE (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department determined the defendant was not deprived of effective assistance of counsel by (1) the failure to move to suppress evidence found in a garbage bag outside defendant’s grandmother’s house, (2) the failure to move to suppress cell site location information (CSLI), and (3) the failure to object to the prosecutor’s mischaracterization of the the DNA evidence as a match.  Exigent circumstances justified the search of the garbage bag and the warrantless search of the cell-site records, and the prosecutorial misconduct was not flagrant and pervasive:

… [W]e conclude that, in light of the particular circumstances that led the police officers to the premises in search of a recently missing 17-year-old girl, that limited search (of the garbage bag) fell within the recognized emergency exception to the warrant requirement … . …

The Supreme Court recognized that “case-specific exceptions may support a warrantless search of an individual’s cell-site records under certain circumstances” … . “One well-recognized exception applies when the exigencies of the situation make the needs of law enforcement so compelling that [a] warrantless search is objectively reasonable under the Fourth Amendment . . . Such exigencies include the need to . . . protect individuals who are threatened with imminent harm” … . …

The testimony at trial established that defendant could not be excluded as the source of the DNA found on the victim’s nail and that the chance of randomly selecting an unrelated individual as the source of the DNA was less than one in 114,000. Here, … the sole mischaracterization of the DNA evidence ” did not rise to the flagrant and pervasive level of misconduct [that] would deprive defendant of due process,’ “… . People v Lively, 2018 NY Slip Op 05413, Fourth Dept 7-25-18

CRIMINAL LAW (DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS NOT INEFFECTIVE FOR FAILURE TO MOVE TO SUPPRESS THE RESULTS OF THE WARRANTLESS SEARCH OF A GARBAGE BAG AND CELL-SITE LOCATION RECORDS WHICH WERE JUSTIFIED BY EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES , AND DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS NOT INEFFECTIVE FOR FAILING TO OBJECT TO THE PROSECUTOR’S MISCHARACTERIZATION OF THE STRENGTH OF DNA EVIDENCE (FOURTH DEPT))/EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS NOT INEFFECTIVE FOR FAILURE TO MOVE TO SUPPRESS THE RESULTS OF THE WARRANTLESS SEARCH OF A GARBAGE BAG AND CELL-SITE LOCATION RECORDS WHICH WERE JUSTIFIED BY EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES , AND DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS NOT INEFFECTIVE FOR FAILING TO OBJECT TO THE PROSECUTOR’S MISCHARACTERIZATION OF THE STRENGTH OF DNA EVIDENCE (FOURTH DEPT))/ATTORNEYS (CRIMINAL LAW, DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS NOT INEFFECTIVE FOR FAILURE TO MOVE TO SUPPRESS THE RESULTS OF THE WARRANTLESS SEARCH OF A GARBAGE BAG AND CELL-SITE LOCATION RECORDS WHICH WERE JUSTIFIED BY EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES , AND DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS NOT INEFFECTIVE FOR FAILING TO OBJECT TO THE PROSECUTOR’S MISCHARACTERIZATION OF THE STRENGTH OF DNA EVIDENCE (FOURTH DEPT))/INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE (DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS NOT INEFFECTIVE FOR FAILURE TO MOVE TO SUPPRESS THE RESULTS OF THE WARRANTLESS SEARCH OF A GARBAGE BAG AND CELL-SITE LOCATION RECORDS WHICH WERE JUSTIFIED BY EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES , AND DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS NOT INEFFECTIVE FOR FAILING TO OBJECT TO THE PROSECUTOR’S MISCHARACTERIZATION OF THE STRENGTH OF DNA EVIDENCE (FOURTH DEPT))

ATTORNEY’S MOTION TO WITHDRAW BECAUSE OF CLIENT’S FAILURE TO PAY AND LACK OF COOPERATION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the appellant-attorney’s motion for permission to withdraw from representing plaintiff-client should have been granted. The attorney had submitted upwards of $40,000 in bills. Plaintiff did not pay any of the bills and refused to provide documents requested by the attorney. In addition, plaintiff did not oppose the attorney’s motion to withdraw:

” The decision to grant or deny permission for counsel to withdraw lies within the discretion of the trial court, and the court’s decision should not be overturned absent a showing of an improvident exercise of discretion'” … . “An attorney may be permitted to withdraw from employment where a client refuses to pay reasonable legal fees” … . “Additionally, an attorney may withdraw from representing a client if the client fails to cooperate in the representation or otherwise renders the representation unreasonably difficult for the lawyer to carry out employment effectively'” … . Applebaum v Einstein, 2018 NY Slip Op 05437, Second Dept 7-25-18

ATTORNEYS (ATTORNEY’S MOTION TO WITHDRAW BECAUSE OF CLIENT’S FAILURE TO PAY AND LACK OF COOPERATION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT))/CLIENTS (ATTORNEYS, ATTORNEY’S MOTION TO WITHDRAW BECAUSE OF CLIENT’S FAILURE TO PAY AND LACK OF COOPERATION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND 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