Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1998

Biaggi v. Local 300, Service Employees International Union

Biaggi v. Local 300, Service Employees International Union
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York · Decided October 29, 1998
254 A.D.2d 236; 679 N.Y.S.2d 57; 1998 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 11419
Biaggi v. Local 300, Service Employees International Union

Opinion of the Court

Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Stanley Green, J.), entered May 14, 1998, denying defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiffs complaint for failure to state a cause of action, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

The complaint of plaintiff law firm, alleging, inter.alia, that *237the firm changed its position to its detriment by reason of its retainer agreements with the Union and Welfare Fund defendants, sufficiently states a claim for compensation according to the terms of those retainer agreements, notwithstanding the generally applicable rule that a client may discharge its attorney at will and, in so doing, relegate outgoing counsel to recover in quantum meruit for the value of its services (see, Greenberg v Remick & Co., 230 NY 70; Atkins & O’Brien v ISS Intl. Serv. Sys., 252 AD2d 446; Ehrlich v Rebco Ins. Exch., 198 AD2d 58). Concur — Rosenberger, J. P., Nardelli, Mazzarelli, Andrias and Saxe, JJ.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.