Palazzolo v. Feinstein
| Decision Date | 07 October 2002 |
| Citation | 751 N.Y.S.2d 401,298 A.D.2d 372 |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
| Parties | FRANK PALAZZOLO et al., Appellants,<BR>v.<BR>HERRICK, FEINSTEIN, LLP, et al., Respondents. |
Ordered that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with costs.
On a motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a) (7), the facts pleaded are presumed to be true and accorded every favorable inference (see CPLR 3026; Leon v Martinez, 84 NY2d 83, 88). However, bare legal conclusions and factual claims which are flatly contradicted by the evidence are not presumed to be true on such a motion (see Morone v Morone, 50 NY2d 481; Kantrowitz & Goldhamer v Geller, 265 AD2d 529; Mayer v Sanders, 264 AD2d 827; Meyer v Guinta, 262 AD2d 463, 464; Doria v Masucci, 230 AD2d 764, 765; Franklin v Winard, 199 AD2d 220).
Attorneys may select among reasonable courses of action in prosecuting their clients' cases without thereby committing malpractice (see Rosner v Paley, 65 NY2d 736, 738). Thus, a purported malpractice claim that amounts only to a client's criticism of counsel's strategy may be dismissed as insufficient (see Dweck Law Firm v Mann, 283 AD2d 292, 293). Here, the Supreme Court correctly determined that the plaintiffs' complaint failed to state a cause of action on the ground that the defendants cannot be held liable for choosing a reasonable, although unsuccessful, course of action (see Darby & Darby v VSI Intl., 95 NY2d 308; Rosner v Paley, supra; Dweck Law Firm v Mann, supra).
In view of this determination, it is unnecessary to reach the other bases cited by the Supreme Court for dismissal of the plaintiffs' complaint.
The plaintiffs' remaining contentions are without merit.
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