In this recurring situation, plaintiff has both a California and a NY connection, and hired an attorney to do some work, which eventually goes sour. Frequently a case like this comes up in the entertainment field, with its CA and NY roots. As an example, Basilotta v Warshavsky ; 2011 NY Slip Op 32185(U); August 2, 2011; Sup Ct, NY County; Docket Number: 115525/09; Judge: Paul Wooten shows how the short CA statute of limitations (1 year) undermines the longer NY statute (3 years).

"During the 1980’s plaintiff was a singer known for her popular 1982 song Hey Micky. At all relevant times she has been a California resident. In or about 2003, non party Fallon Inc produced a television commercial for the non-party Subway restaurant franchise that featured Micky without Plaintiff’s knowledge or consent. Subsequent to becoming aware of this commercial, plaintiff retained defendant Oren J. Warshavsky, who at the time worked at defendant law firm Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione (“Gibbons”).’ Plaintiff alleges that she retained Warshavsky and Gibbons I) to seek compensation for the unauthorized use of Mickey in the commercial, and 2) to clarify her ownership rights to the Mickey master recordings. The retainer agreement between the parties was strictly contingency-fee based, and defines the scope of the retainer as “regarding all causes of action."

The gist of the legal malpractice case is that the attorneys got a settlement offer of $ 35,000 and when plaintiff did not accept, sent a letter to a successor attorney advising him of their position that, among other things, plaintiff had terminated her relationship with Gibbons in December, 2006.

The later legal malpractice case revolved around the ownership and exploitation of the master recordings and whether Gibbons was to blame for legal malpractice. Under CPLR 202, a cause of action accruing in a jurisdiction outside NY must be timely both in NY and in that other jurisdiction.

In legal malpractice, where the demanded relief is monetary damages, the site of loss is the plaintiff residence, On this basis, the complaint was dismissed.