Court of Appeals of New York

Following a lengthy estate litigation in which defendant law firm represented plaintiffs and obtained a $111 million settlement worth nearly twice the assessed value of the remaining claims, a dispute arose between plaintiffs and defendants with respect to the law firm's fee (a revised retainer agreement had been signed) and the validity of certain gifts made to defendant partners in 1998. Order of the lower court remanding the case to determine the fees due under the original hourly fee agreement and not the revised agreement is reversed, where: 1) plaintiff Lawrence was competent and shrewd, and in consenting to a revised retainer agreement made a business judgment that was reasonable at the time but turned out to be less advantageous in retrospect; 2) the revised retainer agreement is neither procedurally nor substantively unconscionable; and 3) because the statute of limitations is not tolled by the continuous representation rule in financial disputes between a profession and a client, the claims seeking to recoup the gifts are time-barred.

Appellate Information

• Decided 10/28/2014
• Published 10/28/2014

Judges

• Read

Court

• Court of Appeals of New York

Counsel