…general dissatisfaction with the lawyer’s strategy…
Just because a client is dissatisfied with his lawyer, doesn’t mean that he can sue the lawyer for legal malpractice.
In Genet v Buzin, 159 AD3d 540 [1st Dept 2018], the court held that a general dissatisfaction with the lawyer’s strategy wasn’t enough to sustain a lawsuit against him. The court held: “Plaintiffs’ proposed amendment is “palpably insufficient” (MBIA Ins. Corp. v. Greystone & Co., Inc., 74 A.D.3d 499, 499, 901 N.Y.S.2d 522 [1st Dept. 2010] ). The allegations underlying the legal malpractice claim merely “reflect plaintiff[s’] dissatisfaction with defendants’ strategic choices and tactics; there is no showing that those choices and tactics were unreasonable” (Kassel v. Donohue, 127 A.D.3d 674, 674, 6 N.Y.S.3d 916 [1st Dept. 2015], lv dismissed 26 N.Y.3d 940, 17 N.Y.S.3d 57, 38 N.E.3d 800 [2015]; see also Rosner v. Paley, 65 N.Y.2d 736, 738, 492 N.Y.S.2d 13, 481 N.E.2d 553 [1985] ). The breach of contract claim is duplicative of the legal malpractice claim, since it arises from the same facts and alleges similar damages (see Rivas v. Raymond Schwartzberg & Assoc., PLLC, 52 A.D.3d 401, 861 N.Y.S.2d 313 [1st Dept. 2008] ).”
