How,the,Continuous,Representat law How the Continuous Representation Doctrine Helps Injured
When you work with an attorney, you will have no problem reducing the risks associated with getting your case in front of a judge and jury, or other formal court, when you need to. However, every case is different. It is important to work wi Bankruptcy is a situation, wherein an individual is termed as unable to discharge all the debts. When a person or a company is not able to pay off its creditors, it has an obligation to file a bankruptcy suit. In fact, a bankruptcy suit is a
Inlegal matters, there is an attorney-client relationship from the moment thatthe attorney is consulted by the client until the matter concludes. If, duringthe term of this relationship, the attorney was negligent or commitsmalpractice in the matter, the client may have a claim against the attorney forlegal malpractice. Sometimes, the malpractice is committed at the early stagesof litigation and not at the conclusion; for instance, an action may havestarted in Year 1, malpractice was committed in Year 2, and the actionconcludes in Year 6. The question then becomes whether or not the client maypursue a claim against the attorney for the malpractice committed in Year 2,when the statute of limitations period may have already passed.CPLR214(6) provides that an action to recover damages for malpractice, other thanmedical, dental or podiatric malpractice, regardless of whether the underlyingtheory is based in contract or tort must be commenced within 3 years. The causeof action for malpractice accrues at the time of the act, error or omission.See, Julian v. Carrol, 270 AD2d 457 [2d Dept. 2000]; Goicoechea v. Law Officesof Stephen Kihl, 234 AD2d 507 [2d Dept. 1996]; Shumsky v. Eisenstein, 96 NY2d164 [2001]. In order to protect clients The Court of Appeals has held that acause of action for legal malpractice accrues against the attorney when thestatute of limitations expires on the underlying action for which the attorneywas retained. See, Shumsky v. Eisenstein, supra.TheContinuous Representation Toll Theaccrual of the three-year statute of limitations is tolled during the period ofthe lawyers continuous representation in the same matter out of which themalpractice arose under the theory that the client should not be expected toquestion the lawyers advice while he is still representing the client. See,Lamellen v. Kupplungbau GmbH v. Lerner, 166 AD2d 505 [2d Dept. 1990]; Shumskyv. Eisenstein, supra. Under the continuous representation doctrine, there mustbe clear indicia of an ongoing, continuous, developing, and dependentrelationship between the client and the lawyer. See, Kanter v. Pieri, 11 AD3d912 [4 Dept. 2004]; Lamellen v. Kupplungbau GmbH v. Lerner, supra; Clark v.Jacobsen, 202 AD2d 466 [2 Dept. 1994].by Richard A. Klass, Esq.***[ Resource Box ]License InformationHow the Continuous RepresentationDoctrine Helps Injured Clients by Richard A.Klass, Esq. is licensed under a Creative CommonsAttribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact Mr. Klass(email: [email protected]). Insert the words "reprintpermission request" in the subject line of the email. PublishingGuidelinesPermissionis granted to publish this article electronically in free-only publications,like a website or ezine (print and non-free publications require permission) aslong as the resource box is included without any modifications. All links mustbe active. A courtesy copy is requested on publication (email:[email protected]).ArticleURL:http://courtstreetlaw.com/newsletters/LawCURRENTSSpring2008.htmlAuthorName:Richard A. Klass , Esq.ContactEmail Address:[email protected]'sFirm's Website:www.CourtStreetLaw.comWordCount:369 wordsArticleTags:ContinuousRepresentation, Legal Malpractice
How,the,Continuous,Representat