Joanna Garelick Goldstein (Of Counsel-White Plains, NY) obtained a dismissal in New York Supreme Court, Queens County on behalf of an attorney in a legal malpractice action. The plaintiff is the mother of a minor child who was represented by the firm’s client as a court-appointed lawyer in a custody dispute before Family Court. Our client asserted the child’s preference was to relocate with her mother, but Family Court granted primary custody to her father. On appeal, the Appellate Division noted that the firm’s client did not properly advocate for the interests of the child. Based on this statement, the plaintiff mother filed the complaint in Supreme Court to recover damages for legal malpractice as well as punitive damages. Joanna successfully argued dismissal of the malpractice complaint on the grounds that the plaintiff mother has no standing to bring the suit.