Bein v. Lewis

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York

Bein v. Lewis

47 A.D.2d 538, 363 N.Y.S.2d 116, 1975 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 8599

CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York

DecidedJanuary 20, 1975

StatusPublished

Cited by3 cases

This text of 47 A.D.2d 538 (Bein v. Lewis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Bein v. Lewis, 47 A.D.2d 538, 363 N.Y.S.2d 116, 1975 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 8599 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1975).

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Opinion

In an action to recover damages for libel, plaintiff appeals from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Westchester County, entered June 20, 1974, in favor of defendant upon the trial court’s dismissal of the complaint at the close of plaintiff’s ease at a non jury trial. Judgment affirmed, with costs. Defendant, an insurance agent, wrote two letters to the Westchester County Bar Association accusing plaintiff, an attorney, of unethical conduct in his representation of persons who had been injured in an accident that occurred on the premises of persons whose liability insurance had been obtained by defendant. The trial court dismissed the complaint on the ground that the communications were protected by an absolute privilege. The court went on to add that, in its opinion, plaintiff had committed unethical and improper acts. We agree that the letters in question were absolutely privileged, as complaints filed to initiate a judicial proceeding (Wiener v. Weintraub, 22 N Y 2d 330). However, we disagree with the trial court’s conclusions concerning the propriety of plaintiff’s conduct. Nothing in the acts ascribed to plaintiff violated the Canons of Ethics; nor may they otherwise be considered unprofessional. Gulotta, P. J., Hopkins, Martuseello, Latham and Christ, JJ., concur.

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In an action to recover damages for libel, plaintiff appeals from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Westchester County, entered June 20, 1974, in favor of defendant upon the trial court’s dismissal of the complaint at the close of plaintiff’s ease at a non jury trial. Judgment affirmed, with costs. Defendant, an insurance agent, wrote two letters to the Westchester County Bar Association accusing plaintiff, an attorney, of unethical conduct in his representation of persons who had been injured in an accident that occurred on the premises of persons whose liability insurance had been obtained by defendant. The trial court dismissed the complaint on the ground that the communications were protected by an absolute privilege. The court went on to add that, in its opinion, plaintiff had committed unethical and improper acts. We agree that the letters in question were absolutely privileged, as complaints filed to initiate a judicial proceeding (Wiener v. Weintraub, 22 N Y 2d 330). However, we disagree with the trial court’s conclusions concerning the propriety of plaintiff’s conduct. Nothing in the acts ascribed to plaintiff violated the Canons of Ethics; nor may they otherwise be considered unprofessional. Gulotta, P. J., Hopkins, Martuseello, Latham and Christ, JJ., concur.

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Bluebook (online)

47 A.D.2d 538, 363 N.Y.S.2d 116, 1975 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 8599, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bein-v-lewis-nyappdiv-1975.

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