A Manhattan lawyer and his firm have been found liable for legal malpractice because they failed to advise a client about how to correctly make its nearly $1 million deposit on a condominium unit, leading to loss of the money.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Lucy Billings ruled that attorney David Ferber and Ferber Chan Essner & Coller had committed malpractice because the “failure to advise plaintiff of the applicable statute and regulation [related to the deposit] departed from the standard of professional care.”

In Riviera Property Holdings v. Ferber Chan Essner & Coller, 104953/2011, Billings was asked to assess defendants' summary judgment motion and Riviera Property Holdings' cross-motion for summary judgment, including its request for damages based on alleged malpractice.