Johnson v. Haberman & Kassoy

Plaintiff appeals from the entry of summary judgment in favor of defendant attorneys in his action for attorney malpractice. The summary judgment was granted on the sole ground that the action was barred by the statute of limitations. For the reasons that follow, we will reverse.

Factual Background

In 1971 plaintiff became a limited partner in a limited partnership, 954 North Palm Avenue (954), which owned an apartment building. There was a triple net master lease which, unknown to plaintiff, allocated to 954, the lessor, a monthly lease payment roughly equal to debt service expense; the lessee (Palm Leaseco whose general partners were the same as the 954 general partners) was obligated to pay expenses. Despite this, the general partners called upon plaintiff, for example, to come up with more money or reduce his interest. In 1974 plaintiff was “on notice” of alleged fraud and misappropriation of money of the general partners and wrote letters to them in which he referred to possible “fraudulent” activity and the payout of the lessee “Palm Leaseco” investors.

In November 1974, plaintiff first consulted defendant attorneys for the purpose of securing their legal…