Insufficient Evidence Of Malpractice

A trial court’s dismissal of a legal malpractice claim was affirmed by the New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department.

The plaintiff commenced an action for a divorce and ancillary relief against her former husband and retained the defendants to represent her in that action. The action ended in a judgment that resolved issues including child support and visitation that the plaintiff and her former husband were unable to stipulate to before trial. Approximately three years later, the plaintiff commenced this action to recover damages for legal malpractice. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant failed to ascertain the full extent of her former husband’s income, and failed to make an adequate record before the matrimonial court regarding her former husband’s level of adherence to the tenets of Orthodox Judaism and the needs of their children not to have visitation with the former husband on the Jewish Sabbath and holidays. The defendants moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint. The Supreme Court granted the motion.

The court

…here, in opposition to the defendants’ prima facie showing of entitlement to judgment as a matter of law, the affirmation submitted by the plaintiff, herself an attorney, was insufficient to raise a triable issue of fact as to whether the defendants were negligent in their representation of her in the underlying matrimonial action (see Scartozzi v Potruch, 72 AD3d at 788-789). Accordingly, the Supreme Court properly granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint and dismissed the complaint.

(Mike Frisch)