Opinion
March 12, 1996
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Bronx County (Alan Saks, J.).
The letter from the non-appealing third-party defendant to third-party plaintiff, advising that he had been retained by plaintiff to prosecute her personal injury action and demanding the file, raises an issues of fact as to whether third-party defendant-appellant was retained by plaintiff, as he claims, solely to prosecute a legal malpractice action against third-party plaintiff, or whether he was retained as third-party plaintiff's successor in the personal injury action ( compare, Lott v Benjamin, 186 A.D.2d 951, lv denied 81 N.Y.2d 704). Notably, third-party defendants were retained well before the running of the Statute of Limitations in the personal injury action ( cf., Hansen v Brognano, 137 A.D.2d 880).
Concur — Rosenberger, J.P., Ellerin, Rubin, Kupferman and Tom, JJ.