Claims of legal malpractice stem from the attorney’s alleged breach of duty of care to her client. A client may allege a violation of Judiciary Law §487 if the attorney allegedly willfully deceived, or committed fraud or collusion with the intent to deceive the court or the client. If the violation is established, the attorney will be guilty of both a misdemeanor and civilly liable for treble damages. The insurer is obligated to defend the attorney regardless of whether the §487 claim is the only cause of action alleged or one of several causes of action in a malpractice action.1 The insurer, however, will not be obligated to pay the treble damages since they are punitive and insurance coverage for punitive damages is prohibited by the public policy of New York.

The Appellate Division, First Department, recently refused to dismiss a lawsuit in which a sole cause of action alleging a violation of Judiciary Law §487 was pleaded. Plaintiff alleged that the law firm and its partner were guilty of deceit in the representation concerning a disputed profit-sharing agreement during an underlying breach of contract action. The court held the cause of action based on a Judiciary Law §487 violation could not have been asserted in the underlying action because the attorneys’ alleged offenses did not exist when that action was commenced.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]