Lombardi v Lombardi  2015 NY Slip Op 03334  Decided on April 22, 2015  Appellate Division, Second Department is an example of a prenuptial agreement that is so overbearing to the wife that the Appellate Division reversed summary judgment and left it for the trial court to evaluate evidence.   However, it dismissed the wife’s claim against the husband’s lawyer.

“The defendants failed to meet their prima facie burden of demonstrating their entitlement to judgment as a matter of law dismissing the sixth and seventh causes of action, which were to set aside or rescind the agreement on the basis of duress, coercion, undue influence, and unconscionability. “An agreement between spouses or prospective spouses should be closely scrutinized, and may be set aside upon a showing that it is unconscionable, or the result of fraud, or where it is shown to be manifestly unfair to one spouse because of overreaching on the part of the other spouse” (Bibeau v Sudick, 122 AD3d 652, 654-655; see Matter of Fizzinoglia, 118 AD3d 994, 995, lv granted 24 NY3d 908).

The evidence submitted by the defendants and the pleadings demonstrated that there [*3]was a great financial disparity between the husband and the wife, who allegedly did not work and had no assets. The wife averred that the husband pressured her into signing the agreement, threatening that, if she did not sign, she, their son, and her child from a previous marriage would have to leave their home, and that the husband would not marry her. The wife further alleged that the husband made threats of violence against her.

In addition, the agreement provided that only property titled in the parties’ joint names would be “marital property,” and that such property would be distributed “in accordance with [the parties’] respective financial contributions to the acquisition or maintenance of such joint property.” As to the marital residence, the agreement provided that the wife would become entitled to 1/7 of 50% of the equity in the home in each of the first seven years of the parties’ marriage, and, thus, would become a 50% owner if the parties remained married for seven years. The husband and the wife waived the right to any maintenance, the right to any counsel fees, and all rights to the other’s estate, including the right of election. Additionally, as noted above, there are triable issues of fact as to whether the wife was represented by counsel with respect to the agreement.

Since the defendants’ submissions revealed the existence of triable issues of fact as to whether the agreement should be set aside (see Bibeau v Sudick, 122 AD3d 652; Petracca v Petracca, 101 AD3d 695), the Supreme Court should have denied those branches of the defendants’ cross motion which were for summary judgment dismissing the sixth and seventh causes of action, regardless of the sufficiency of the wife’s opposition papers.

The Supreme Court properly granted that branch of the defendants’ cross motion which was for summary judgment dismissing the tenth cause of action, which alleged legal malpractice against Courten. In order to recover damages for legal malpractice, an attorney-client relationship must exist between the plaintiff and the defendant attorney (Biberaj v Acocella, 120 AD3d 1285; Moran v Hurst, 32 AD3d 909). “To prove an attorney-client relationship, there must be an explicit undertaking to perform a specific task'” (Nelson v Roth, 69 AD3d 912, 913, quoting Terio v Spodek, 63 AD3d 719, 721). “The unilateral belief of a plaintiff alone does not confer upon him or her the status of a client” (Moran v Hurst, 32 AD3d at 911). Here, the defendants demonstrated, prima facie, that there was no attorney-client relationship between Courten and the wife. In opposition, the wife failed to raise a triable issue of fact.”