Richard W. Boone Jr. (Partner-New York, NY) and Siobhán A. Mueller (Of Counsel-New York, NY) recently prevailed on a CPLR 3211 motion to dismiss in New York Supreme Court in a legal malpractice case brought by a union member against the attorney retained by the union to represent the plaintiff in an arbitration hearing conducted pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). In their motion to dismiss, Rich and Siobhán argued that all claims against the attorney must be dismissed as barred under well-settled precedent holding union lawyers immune from malpractice suits brought by union members. They also argued that plaintiff’s claims should be dismissed because (1) their client had no attorney-client relationship with the plaintiff, (2) the plaintiff did not allege facts sufficient to establish any breach of the standard of care, and (3) the plaintiff’s claim was untimely under the applicable statute of limitations. The court agreed and dismissed the case against our client, holding a “cause of action for malpractice cannot be maintained as against an individual attorney hired by the plaintiff’s union to handle a disciplinary proceeding under the union’s CBA.” Rather, “a plaintiff is limited to bringing an action against the union for breach of the duty of fair representation because, in that instance, the plaintiff's malpractice claims are preempted by federal labor law, as those claims arise out of defendant attorney’s representation of the union during the plaintiff's disciplinary proceedings under the union’s CBA.”