45 N.Y. 306 | NY | 1871
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It was conceded by the appellants, upon the trial, that the services of the respondent were reasonably worth the amount charged by him therefor. The questions raised by the exceptions are, whether the demand was barred by the statute of limitations; second, whether the appellants were liable therefor personally or only in their representative capacity; and third, if personally liable, whether they were so jointly. The demand of the respondent was not, nor any part thereof, barred by the statute, although more than six years had elapsed after the respondent was employed by the appellants as their attorney and counsel to attend to the proceeding instituted against them in the Surrogate's Court, *309
and to the appeal taken from the decree rendered by the surrogate to the Supreme Court, and after such decree had been reversed by the Supreme Court, and a rehearing ordered by the surrogate. The statute did not begin to run upon the demand for these services, and disbursements paid by the respondent, until the termination of the proceeding before the surrogate, by the settlement made by the parties. This results from the nature of the employment of the respondent by the appellants, which was to attend to the proceeding from the time of his retainer until its final determination, unless sooner terminated by the act of one of the parties. (3 Parsons on Contracts, 93; 11 Eng. Law Eq., 587; 4 Binney, 339; Whitehead v. Lord, 7 Exchequer, 691; Angel on Limitations, § 120; Hall v. Wood, 9 Gray, 60.) Adams v.The Fort Plain Bank (