| Area of Law: | Personal Injury & Negligence |
| Keywords: | Legal malpractice; Negligence; Proximate cause |
| Jurisdiction: | New York |
| Cited Cases: | 65 A.D. 470; 168 A.D.2d 531; 52 N.E. 679; 481 N.Y.S.2d 507; 80 N.Y.2d 377; 589 N.Y.S.2d 678; 226 N.Y. 147; 595 N.Y.S.2d 812; 40 N.Y.2d 496; 593 N.Y.S.2d 728; 123 N.E. 205; 292 N.Y.S.2d 54; 105 A.D.2d 565; 387 N.Y.S.2d 92; 192 A.D.2d 512; 713 N.Y.S.2d 382; 563 N.Y.S.2d 426; 493 N.E.2d 234; 67 N.Y.2d 257; 605 N.E.2d 318; 585 N.Y.S.2d 379; 556 N.Y.S.2d 239; 76 N.Y.2d 38; 605 N.Y.S.2d 805; 555 N.E.2d 611; 30 A.D.2d 324; 184 A.D.2d 385; 158 N.Y. 73 |
| Cited Statutes: | None |
| Date: | 10/01/2000 |
In an action for legal malpractice, the plaintiff must prove three essential elements: (1) that the attorney failed to exercise the degree of care, skill and diligence commonly possessed by a member of the legal community; (2) that such negligence was a proximate cause of the loss sustained; and (3) actual damages. N.Y Pattern Jury Instr.—Civil 2:151, Attorney Malpractice, cmt. (3d ed. 2000) (citing Prudential Ins. Co. of Am. v. Dewey, Ballantine, Bushby, Palmer & Wood, 170 A.D.2d
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108, 573 N.Y.S.2d 981 (1st Dep’t 1991), aff’d, 80 N.Y.2d 377, 605 N.E.2d 318, 590 N.Y.S.2d 831 (1992)).
Other New York cases have underscored these basic principles. In Zarin v. Reid & Priest, Esqs., 184 A.D.2d 385, 387-88, 585 N.Y.S.2d 379 (1st Dep’t 1992), for instance, the court stated that the damages in a legal malpractice case must be actual and ascertainable, and must have been proximately caused by the defendant attorney’s negligence. Accord Oot v. Arno, 713 N.Y.S.2d 382, 383, 2000 Slip Op. 08174 (App. Div. 4th Dep’t Sept. 29, 2000); see also Ressis v. Wojick, 105 A.D.2d 565, 567, 481 N.Y.S.2d 507 (3d Dep’t 1984) (“In order to sustain an action for legal malpractice, plaintiff must prove that it was the attorney’s negligence which proximately caused the actual and ascertainable damages that resulted.”) (citing cases).
The measure of damages in an […]
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