In an action to recover damages for legal malpractice, the plaintiff appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Richmond County (Leone, J.), dated October 26, 1994, which denied his motion for leave to file an amended complaint to add a cause of action for treble damages pursuant to Judiciary Law § 487.
Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.
Although leave to amend pleadings should be freely given absent prejudice to the opposing party (see, CPLR 3025 [b]; Edenwald Contr. Co. v City of New York, 60 NY2d 957; Thailer v LaRocca, 174 AD2d 731), such a motion should be denied where the proposed amendment is totally devoid of merit (see, Zabas v Kard, 194 AD2d 784). Because the conduct alleged in the proposed amended complaint does not establish a claim for treble damages under Judiciary Law § 487, the Supreme Court properly denied the plaintiffs motion. Balletta, J. P., Miller, Joy and Altman, JJ., concur.