Opinion
December 16, 1998
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Schmidt, J.).
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed, with costs.
To prevail in a legal malpractice action, the plaintiff must establish that the defendant failed to exercise that degree of care, skill, and diligence commonly possessed and exercised by an ordinary member of the legal community; that such negligence was the proximate cause of the actual damages sustained by the plaintiff; and that but for the negligence, the plaintiff would have been successful in the underlying action ( see, Andrews Beverage Distrib. v. Stern, 215 A.D.2d 706; Logalbo v. Plishkin, Rubano Baum, 163 A.D.2d 511, 513).
In the instant case, the court, as trier of fact, could have reasonably concluded that the plaintiff failed to prove that the defendants were negligent in the course of representing her ( see, Corley v. Miller, 133 A.D.2d 732, 734-735).
The plaintiff's remaining contention is without merit.
Rosenblatt, J. P., Ritter, Copertino and Thompson, JJ., concur.