We think there is. It’s hiding inAccess Point Med., LLC v Mandell ;2011 NY Slip Op 30866(U)
April 8, 2011 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 102082/2010
Here is how it goes. Generally in legal malpractice or in breach of fiduciary duty the statute of limitations begins to run on the date of the malpractice. Forgetting about continuous representation, the date of the malpractice is often easily calculated. Many battles are fought over what that date is, and there is no "discovery" statute of limitations.
However, “[a] tort claim accrues as soon as ‘the claim becomes enforceable, Le., when all elements of the tort can be truthfully alleged in a complaint”’ (id, at 140 [internal citation omitted]). Similarly, in other torts in which damage is an essential element, the claim “is not enforceable until damages are sustained. To determine timeliness, we consider whether plaintiff’s complaint must, as a matter of law, be read to allege damages suffered so early as to render the claim time-barred” IDT Corp. v Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., 12 NY3d 132,139 [2009].
As to legal malpractice, “A legal malpractice claim accrues ‘when all the facts necessary to the cause of action have occurred and an injured party can obtain relief in court”’ (McCoy v Feinman, 99 NY2d 295, 301 [2002]
Here is the argument to be made when the statute might reasonably be argued: Sure, a mistake was made, but no claim could be made until the "but for" part of the case came into existence, and that did not come into existence until there were actual damages…