65 A.D.2d 941 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1978
Order and judgment modified and, as modified, affirmed, with costs to plaintiff, in accordance with the following memorandum: Plaintiff commenced a malpractice action against her former attorney, William McKeon, on January 15, 1975 by serving a summons and third-party complaint alleging that McKeon had been negligent in his handling of automobile personal injury actions against plaintiff and in permitting default judgments to be taken against her in November, 1974. McKeon failed to forward the suit papers to his malpractice insurer, the defendant. Plaintiff’s present attorneys (who had been retained by State Farm Mutual Automobile Association in place of McKeon in December, 1974 to represent plaintiff as a defendant in the automobile negligence cases and in her malpractice claim against McKeon) had written McKeon on December 20, 1974 inquiring as to the identity of his malpractice carrier. They had received no reply. On February 11, 1975 plaintiff’s attorneys received information from attorneys representing the injured parties in the negligence actions that they "thought McKeon was covered by St. Paul.” After three or four conferences with representatives of the defendant the fact that defendant was McKeon’s insurer was established and the suit papers were forwarded with an accompanying letter on February 19, 1975. There is