BECAUSE PLAINTIFF’S DECEDENT COULD NOT COMMENCE A LEGAL MALPRACTICE ACTION WHILE THE DEFENDANTS-ATTORNEYS STILL REPRESENTED HIM, THERE WAS A QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER THE ACTION WAS TIMELY (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court, in a decision addressing several issues not summarized here, determined there was a question of fact whether the continuous representation doctrine rendered the legal malpractice action timely:

… [T]he plaintiffs raised a question of fact as to whether the continuous representation doctrine tolled the running of the statute of limitations until June 24, 2013, when the Supreme Court … vacated the March 18, 2013 order, and … granted W & H’s [defendants-attorneys] motion for leave to withdraw as counsel. Inasmuch as W & H’s motion to withdraw as counsel, which was opposed by Michele [plaintiff’s decedent] , was initially denied, Michele could not be expected to commence an action to recover damages for legal malpractice against W & H while the representation continued … . Accordingly, the court erred in granting that branch of the defendants’ motion which was pursuant to CPLR 3211(a)(5) to dismiss the legal malpractice cause of action as time-barred. Tulino v Hiller, P.C., 2022 NY Slip Op 01197, Second Dept 2-23-22