The Court of Appeals has rendered a landmark decision, chipping away at privity in holding that an estate fiduciary may maintain a legal malpractice claim against its decedent’s estate tax planning attorneys for negligent representation. Until now, privity, i.e., a legal connection between two parties, was a strict condition precedent to maintaining a legal malpractice
This week’s entry, written by Jaclene D’Agostino, discusses a recent New York County Supreme Court decision dismissing a widow’s legal malpractice claim against her husband’s estate planning attorneys. The rationale: lack of privity, despite the fact that the defendant attorneys also represented the widow in her own estate plans, and jointly with her husband in other matters.
Continue Reading Widow Barred from Bringing Legal Malpractice Action against Husband’s Estate Planning Attorneys