Sclafani v Kahn 2019 NY Slip Op 01115 [169 AD3d 846] February 13, 2019
Appellate Division, Second Department gives a good theoretical explanation of continuous representation and the underlying requirements of continuing trust and confidence as well as a shared understanding of the need for further work.
“An action to recover damages for legal malpractice must be commenced within three years of accrual, “regardless of whether the underlying theory is based in contract or tort” (CPLR 214 [6]; see McCoy v Feinman, 99 NY2d 295, 301 [2002]; Chase Scientific Research v NIA Group, 96 NY2d 20 [2001]; Quinn v McCabe, Collins, McGeough & Fowler, LLP, 138 AD3d at 1086; Alizio v Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, P.C., 126 AD3d at 735; Farage v Ehrenberg, 124 AD3d 159, 163 [2014]; Landow v Snow Becker Krauss, P.C., 111 AD3d at 796). “A cause of action to recover damages for legal malpractice accrues when the malpractice is committed, not when it is discovered” (Alizio v Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, P.C., 126 AD3d at 735; see McCoy v Feinman, 99 NY2d at 301; Quinn v McCabe, Collins, McGeough & Fowler, LLP, 138 AD3d at 1086; Farage v Ehrenberg, 124 AD3d at 164; Landow v Snow Becker Krauss, P.C., 111 AD3d at 796).
However, “[t]he continuous representation doctrine serves to toll the statute of limitations and render timely an otherwise time-barred cause of action for legal malpractice, but ‘only where there is a mutual understanding of the need for further representation on the specific subject matter underlying the malpractice claim’ ” (King Tower Realty Corp. v G & G Funding Corp., 163 AD3d 541, 543 [2018], quoting McCoy v Feinman, 99 NY2d at 306; see Alizio v Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, P.C., 126 AD3d at 735). For the doctrine to apply, “there must be clear indicia of ‘an ongoing, continuous, developing, and dependent relationship between the client and the attorney’ ” (Farage v Ehrenberg, 124 AD3d at 164, quoting Aseel v Jonathan E. Kroll & Assoc., PLLC, 106 AD3d 1037, 1038 [2013]; see Quinn v McCabe, Collins, McGeough & Fowler, LLP, 138 AD3d at 1086).”