Editor's Note: This article is the third article discussing findings about what the four Appellate Division departments have been deciding about legal malpractice during the last five years. Future articles will continue to share findings from the data set, containing 357 published decisions.

Any lawyer who chooses to go into New York matrimonial practice probably heard an advance warning or two about its pitfalls. Emotional clients, manipulative adversaries, intra-family pain, court procedures that look Byzantine from the outside, accusations and fee fights are among the drawbacks of this work that risk-averse counselors continue to mention to peers and the next generation. Students in my Family Law class who express their interest in this field often sound a little abashed, as if they are confessing to a bit of perversity.

Matrimonial practice has unique rewards for an attorney that can greatly exceed the downsides, but it's almost as central to my Professional Responsibility class as it is to Family Law. Something of a “frequent flier.” Violations of the New York Rules of Professional Conduct that originate in divorce-related retainers turn up disproportionately often in the disciplinary docket.