PERRUCCI v. CIGNA INSURANCE COMPANY (1998)

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Herman Cahn, J.), entered September 8, 1997, which granted defendants' motion to dismiss plaintiff's complaint for failure to state a cause of action, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

 A client has the right “to terminate the attorney-client relationship at any time with or without cause” (Matter of Cooperman, 83 N.Y.2d 465, 472, 611 N.Y.S.2d 465, 633 N.E.2d 1069;  see also, Demov, Morris, Levin & Shein v. Glantz, 53 N.Y.2d 553, 556, 444 N.Y.S.2d 55, 428 N.E.2d 387).   Plaintiff, who does not claim to fall within the two limited exceptions to the rule (see, Atkins & O'Brien LLP. v. ISS International Service System, Inc., 252 A.D.2d 446, 448, 678 N.Y.S.2d 596) may not circumvent the general rule by recasting his cause of action as a prima facie tort (see, Ullmann v. Kamali, 207 A.D.2d 691, 692, 616 N.Y.S.2d 583;  Fisher v. Maxwell Communications Corp., 205 A.D.2d 356, 357, 613 N.Y.S.2d 369).  Plaintiff failed to preserve his current claim that leave to replead should have been granted, which in any case would have been inappropriate (see, Ceres v. Shearson Lehman Bros., Inc., 227 A.D.2d 222, 642 N.Y.S.2d 264).

MEMORANDUM DECISION.