ALBANY – A criminal defendant who brings a legal malpractice case against his attorney cannot recover damages for loss of liberty and emotional distress, the state Court of Appeals ruled yesterday.
“We see no compelling reason to depart from the established rule limiting recovery in legal malpractice actions to pecuniary damages,” Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman (See Profile) wrote in Dombrowski v. Bulson, 83. “Allowing this type of [nonpecuniary] recovery would have, at best, negative and, at worst, devastating consequences for the criminal justice system. Most significantly, such a ruling could have a chilling effect on the willingness of the already strapped defense bar to represent indigent accused.”
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