Opinion ID: 771982
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Underlying State Litigation Against the City

Text: 11 A legal referral service recommended two lawyers, one of them Dorfman. Baker was impressed by Dorfman's resume, and paid him a $1000 retainer on February 3, 1994. 12 On April 12, 1994, Dorfman filed notice of Baker's claim against the City in the New York State Supreme Court. Almost one year later, on March 31, 1995, Dorfman filed the complaint. After two years and substantial discovery, Baker fired Dorfman, and retained Gregory Antollino, Esq., who filed a motion for summary judgment. The City cross-moved for summary judgment, arguing that Baker's notice of claim and his complaint were untimely, on the following theory: notice of claim against a public corporation in New York must be served within ninety days after the claim arises, N.Y. Gen. Mun. Law §50-e(1)(a) (McKinney 1999); a negligence cause of action accrues on the date of injury (i.e., the false positive test on April 20, 1993) rather than the date of discovery (i.e., the negative retest on January 17, 1994), see Rizk v. Cohen, 538 N.Y.S.2d 229, 232 n.3 (1989); Dorfman's claim against the City therefore accrued when he was misdiagnosed on April 20, 1993, and his notice of claim was untimely after July 19, 1993. 13 Dorfman was first retained in February 1994, after the time for filing a notice of claim had passed. But New York law allows for a motion for leave to file a late notice of claim within the period of the statute of limitations. See N.Y. Gen. Mun. Law § 50-e(5). The New York statute of limitations on negligence actions against municipalities is one year and 90 days from the date of injury. See id. § 50-i(1)(c). Thus, five months remained to seek leave to file a late notice of claim after Dorfman's retention. Dorfman instead filed the late notice of claim without the motion to excuse lateness. 14 Dorfman's second default involved the statute of limitations for filing the complaint. Dorfman had until July 19, 1994, five months after his February 1994 retention to file the complaint. Dorfman allowed Baker's claim to expire by waiting to file the complaint until March 31, 1995--almost two years after the misdiagnosis and long after the statute had run. 2 15 The state trial court granted the City's motion for summary judgment. Baker appealed by new counsel, and the Appellate Division affirmed. See Baker v. City of New York, 671 N.Y.S.2d 663, 663 (1st Dep't 1998).