“A legal malpractice claim requires that the plaintiff show that “the defendant attorney failed to exercise the ordinary reasonable skill and knowledge commonly possessed by a member of the legal profession which results in actual damages to a plaintiff, and that the plaintiff would have succeeded on the merits of the underlying action ‘but for’ the attorney’s negligence” (AmBase Corp. v Davis Polk & Wardwell, 8 NY3d 428, 434 [2007]… [read post]

Plaintiff's claim that had he not resigned, he may have been able to hide his fraudulent activities, [*4]continue to collect fees, and reach an agreement with OCM is purely speculative and does not raise a triable issue of fact (see AmBase Corp. v Davis Polk & Wardwell, 8 NY3d 428, 434-436 [2007]; GUS Consulting Gmb, 74 AD3d at 679; Phillips-Smith Speciality Retail Group II v Parker Chapin Flattau & Klimpl, 265 AD2d 208, 210 [1999], lv denied 94 NY2d 759 [2000]). [read post]

“In this legal malpractice action, plaintiffs are unable to demonstrate that they would have succeeded in the underlying personal injury action "but for" defendants' conduct (see AmBase Corp. v Davis Polk & Wardwell, 8 NY3d 428, 434, 866 N.E.2d 1033, 834 N.Y.S.2d 705 [2007]). [read post]

“An attorney’s conduct or inaction is the proximate [*5]cause of a plaintiff’s damages if ‘but for’ the attorney’s negligence ‘the plaintiff would have succeeded on the merits of the underlying action'” (Nomura Asset Capital Corp. v Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, 26 NY3d 40, 50 [2015], rearg denied 27 NY3d 957 [2016], quoting AmBase Corp. v Davis Polk & Wardwell, 8 NY3d 428, 434 [2007]). [read post]