Ann Hatsios

The defendants moved to dismiss the plaintiff's action and discharge its construction lien, arguing that the plaintiff corporation contracted using an unregistered business name and failed to disclose its corporate identity.

The plaintiff argued the lapse in registration was inadvertent and the defendants were aware they were dealing with a corporation.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that the voluminous and contradictory affidavit evidence raised serious credibility issues that could not be resolved on a summary basis and required a full trial.

The plaintiff sued his former family lawyer and the lawyer’s firm for negligence arising from advice and drafting of a separation agreement that waived spousal support.

The plaintiff argued that the agreement was vulnerable to challenge and that counsel failed to adequately advise him of the risks and should have ceased acting once the agreement was attacked in subsequent litigation.

The court held that the lawyer met the heightened standard of care applicable to a family law specialist, having properly explained the risks and drafted a robust spousal support waiver.

The court also found no breach in continuing the retainer and concluded that causation and damages were not established, including under a lost‑chance analysis.

The action was dismissed.