When the attorneys represented the client, it prosecuted a condominium sale claim which was dismissed on statute of frauds grounds.  However, in  Komolov v Popik  2022 NY Slip Op 01966, Decided on March 22, 2022,  the Appellate Division, First Department held that:

“Defendants failed to establish a prima facie case that they were not negligent, that any negligence was not the proximate cause of plaintiffs’ alleged damages, or that plaintiffs suffered no compensable damages (see generally Excelsior Capitol LLC v K&L Gates LLP, 138 AD3d 492, 492 [1st Dept 2016]). In a 2010 action involving sale of the condominium unit, among other things, Supreme Court issued an order dismissing, on statute of frauds grounds, a breach of contract claim regarding the sale. It later developed that there was, in fact, a written contract for the sale, and therefore, that the breach of contract action with respect to the sale was not barred by the statute of frauds. Nevertheless, defendants never moved to renew, vacate, or appeal the order.

Regardless of whether the dismissal on statute of frauds grounds was ultimately correct, defendants should have known that the condominium claims, which involved the sale of real property, would be subject to the statute of frauds and thus would require reference to a written contract (General Obligations Law § 5-703[2]); that the statute of frauds could be raised and adjudicated on a motion to dismiss under CPLR 3211(a)(5); and that a dismissal under the statute of frauds would be on the merits, thus precluding any future claim for damages on the sale of the condominium (see Apostolos v R.D.T. Brokerage Corp., 180 AD2d 569, 570 [1st Dept 1992]). As a result, with respect to the condominium sale, it cannot be determined as a matter of law that plaintiffs failed to plead a claim for legal malpractice based upon defendants’ actions in litigating the breach of contract claim.”