Documents submitted by the defendants do not utterly refute the factual allegations.

In Singh v Pliskin, Rubano, Baum & Vitulli, 200 AD3d 927, 929 [2d Dept 2021]. The court denied the law firm’s motion to dismiss, holding:

The complaint, as augmented by the affidavit of Singh submitted in opposition to the defendants’ motion to dismiss, sufficiently stated a cause of action for legal malpractice (see CPLR 3211 [a] [7]; Leon v Martinez, 84 NY2d 83, 87-88 [1994]; Doe v Ascend Charter Schs., 181 AD3d 648, 649-650 [2020]). Contrary to the defendants’ contention, at this preliminary stage of the litigation, they failed to conclusively demonstrate that the plaintiffs’ subsequent attorney had a sufficient opportunity to correct the defendants’ alleged negligence, such that they did not proximately cause any damages flowing from that negligence (see Gobindram v Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, P.C., 175 AD3d 586, 591 [2019]). The defendants also failed to demonstrate that their actions were protected by the attorney judgment rule (see generally Rosner v Paley, 65 NY2d 736, 738 [1985]; Katsoris v Bodnar & Milone, LLP, 186 AD3d at 1505).

The documents submitted by the defendants do not utterly refute the factual allegations of the complaint and do not conclusively establish a defense to the plaintiffs’ legal malpractice claim as a matter of law (see CPLR 3211 [a] [1]; Cali v Maio, 189 AD3d 1337, 1338 [2020]; Gorunkati v Baker Sanders, LLC, 179 AD3d 904, 906 [2020]).


Richard A. Klass, Esq.
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Richard A. Klass, Esq., maintains a law firm engaged in civil litigation at 16 Court Street, 28th Floor, Brooklyn, New York. He may be reached at (718) COURT●ST or RichKlass@courtstreetlaw.comcreate new email with any questions.

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Scales of justice illustrating article about legal malpractice.