Professional Negligence Law Reporter

A New York appellate court held that a former client’s suit against an attorney and law firm was time-barred and also raised allegations that were insufficient to allege a conspiracy to defraud claim.

Rhiyen Sharp sued Frank Ferrante Jr. and Ferrante Law Firm, alleging legal negligence and conspiracy to defraud. The trial court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss.

Affirming, the appellate court first held that the trial court had incorrectly applied the collateral estoppel doctrine to preclude the plaintiff’s legal negligence claim. The plaintiff’s attorney-client relationship with the defendants was not the issue determined in the arbitration between the plaintiff and his former employer, the court reasoned. Nevertheless, the negligence claim must be dismissed on limitations grounds, the court found. The parties’ attorney-client relationship ended in July 2018, and the plaintiff did not commence his legal negligence suit until June 2022, which fell outside the applicable three-year limitations period.

The appellate court also concluded that the plaintiff’s conspiracy-to-defraud claim was properly dismissed. The plaintiff failed to plead the elements of the underlying fraud claim and did not allege any facts showing that the former employer consulted with the defendants about their decision to terminate the plaintiff or that the defendants had orchestrated the termination. Thus, the court concluded that the plaintiff’s fraud accusations were nothing more than bare legal conclusions.

Citation: Sharp v. Ferrante Law Firm, 220 A.D.3d 587 (N.Y. App. Div. 2023).