Joseph Francoeur (Partner-New York) obtained dismissal of a lawsuit commenced by a plaintiff claiming legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty. Our attorney-client represented the plaintiff in a retaliation case against his former employer, which the jury decided in favor of the employer. After a failed appeal of the verdict, the plaintiff sued our client claiming he made poor strategic decisions during the trial. Joe immediately moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that the plaintiff failed to sufficiently allege proximate causation and that the breach of fiduciary duty claim was the same as the legal malpractice claim and therefore duplicative. The Court agreed with his arguments, dismissed the complaint and awarded costs, stating that “Plaintiff’s complaint is overwhelmingly based on conclusory and speculative assertions that require the drawing of too many inferences to state causes of action for legal malpractice and a breach of fiduciary duty.” The Court further noted that the plaintiff “failed to allege facts sufficient to show that, but for the alleged malpractice and breach, he would not have sustained loss.”