Summary
The Appellate Division, Second Department reversed a trial court order dismissing a legal malpractice claim as time-barred. The court determined that the statute of limitations began to run when a prior Civil Court order denied the plaintiff's motion to restore a dormant personal injury action to the active calendar, rather than when the alleged attorney negligence initially occurred. Because the malpractice suit was commenced within three years of that 2019 order, it was timely. The court also granted the defendants' motion to strike the plaintiff's reply brief for introducing new arguments on appeal.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the legal malpractice claim accrued when the Civil Court denied the motion to restore the personal injury action, and thus whether the claim was filed within the three‑year statutory period.
Holdings
- The claim was timely because the cause of action accrued when the Civil Court order denying the restoration of the personal injury action was issued, which was within three years of filing the malpractice suit.
Key quotations
“To state a cause of action to recover damages for legal malpractice, a plaintiff must allege: (1) that the attorney failed to exercise the ordinary reasonable skill and knowledge commonly possessed by a member of the legal profession; and (2) that the attorney's breach of the duty proximately caused the plaintiff actual and ascertainable damages.”
Factual background
The defendants represented Campbell in a personal injury action filed in December 1994. The action was transferred to the Civil Court in September 1995 and remained inactive until after 2017. In December 1995 the defendants appeared at depositions. In 2016 Campbell changed attorneys. The Civil Court issued an order on December 10, 2019 denying Campbell's motion to restore the action, effectively ending the personal injury case. Campbell then filed a legal malpractice action in January 2020 alleging the defendants' neglect of the original case.
Procedural history
The Supreme Court, Kings County granted the defendants' motion to dismiss the legal malpractice claim as time‑barred on May 25, 2023. Campbell appealed that order to the Appellate Division, Second Department.