Richard W. Boone Jr. (Partner-New York, NY), Siobhán A. Mueller (Of Counsel-New York, NY), and Kieren R. Lang (Associate-New York, NY) secured a complete victory in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County, obtaining dismissal of all claims against their client, a respected law firm. The court held that the client firm could not be held liable for malpractice because it never represented the plaintiff, and because a lawyer’s past conduct cannot be imputed to a new firm joined after the alleged wrongdoing occurred. The plaintiff had named the client firm solely because his former attorneys later joined it – long after their representation had ended.  

In support of the motion to dismiss, Rich, Siobhán, and Kieran argued that all claims against the client firm must fail because it had no involvement in the underlying dispute and, as such, the plaintiff never had an attorney-client relationship with the firm. The team further maintained that the plaintiff’s claims were based on speculation, conclusory allegations, and impermissible second-guessing of the attorneys’ legal strategies, and therefore did not rise to the level of actionable malpractice, fraud, or a violation of the Judiciary Act, as alleged. The court agreed with Wilson Elser’s arguments, granting the motion to dismiss.