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Legal Malpractice Suit Involving Celebrity Memorabilia Can Proceed

By Jason Grant
December 01, 2022

A New York appeals court rejected a Manhattan boutique law firm's attempt to dismiss a malpractice action against it, finding that questions remained as to whether the statute of limitations for the claim was tolled and if the firm received sufficient notice about a bankruptcy that prevented its client from collecting a judgment. The malpractice lawsuit arose out of legal representation in a dispute over celebrity memorabilia.

Examining plaintiff Frank Basile's argument that New York's three-year statute of limitation to bring a malpractice suit against The Law Offices of Neal Brickman was tolled under the continuous representation doctrine, a five-judge panel from the New York Appellate Division, First Department, wrote that various "factual contentions" must be resolved during discovery, not at the pre-answer motion-to-dismiss stage. Basile v. The Law Offices of Neal Brickman P.C., 157431/20 (2022).

Basile argues the limitations period for his $750,000 legal malpractice case had been tolled, under common-law doctrine, "based on alleged emails and telephone conversations" he'd had with the Brickman firm for nine years regarding the collection of a 2010 judgment in his favor from a civil fraud suit in which the firm represented him.

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