AN ACCOUNT-STATED ACTION IS NOT DUPLICATIVE OF A BREACH-OF-CONTRACT ACTION; HERE PLAINTIFF DIVORCE ATTORNEYS PROPERLY SOUGHT PAYMENT UNDER BOTH ACCOUNT-STATED AND BREACH-OF-RETAINER-AGREEMENT THEORIES AND THE COURT PROPERLY AWARDED SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON THE ACCOUNT-STATED CAUSE OF ACTION (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Kern, clarified the First Department’s position that an account-stated cause of action is not duplicative of a breach-of-contract cause of action. Here plaintiff attorneys represented defendant in a divorce action and sought payment under both an account-stated theory and a breach-of-the-retainer agreement theory. Supreme Court properly granted plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on the account-stated action:

… [T]his Court wants to make clear that an account stated is an independent cause of action that can be asserted simultaneously with a breach of contract claim and that an account stated claim should not be dismissed as duplicative of a breach of contract claim … . This case falls squarely within our well-established precedent that an attorney can be granted summary judgment on an account stated claim based on the defendant’s receipt and retention of a plaintiff law firm’s invoices seeking payment for professional services rendered, without objection within a reasonable time, even where there is a retainer agreement. As a result, the court properly granted summary judgment to plaintiffs on their account stated claims. Aronson Mayefsky & Sloan, LLP v Praeger, 2024 NY Slip Op 02657, First Dept 5-14-24

Practice Point: In the First Department account-stated causes of action are not duplicative of breach-of-contract causes of action.