On August 26, 2026, the Second Department issued a decision in Blank v. Petrosyants, 2026 NY Slip Op. 05074, dismissing a legal malpractice claim for failure to establish an attorney-client relationship, explaining:
The elements of a cause of action sounding in legal malpractice include the existence of an attorney-client relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant. An attorney-client relationship may exist in the absence of a retainer or fee. In determining the existence of an attorney-client relationship, a court must look to the actions of the parties to ascertain the existence of such a relationship. A party’s unilateral belief does not confer upon him or her the status of client. Rather, to establish an attorney-client relationship, there must be an explicit undertaking to perform a specific task.
Here, Ofshtein established, prima facie, that no attorney-client relationship existed between him and Shubaderov by submitting deposition testimony demonstrating that Shubaderov had only a unilateral belief that Ofshtein was his attorney and a retainer agreement demonstrating that Ofshtein was the attorney for Prime One Catering, Inc., and not Shubaderov. In opposition, the plaintiffs failed to raise a triable issue of fact. Accordingly, the Supreme Court properly granted that branch of Ofshtein’s motion which was for summary judgment dismissing the cause of action alleging legal malpractice insofar as asserted against him by Shubaderov.
(Internal quotations and citations omitted).