On October 4, 2022, the First Department issued a decision in APR Energy Holdings Ltd. v. Deloitte Tax LLP, 2022 NY Slip Op. 05496, enforcing the terms of an engagement letter shortening the time in which to bring a malpractice action, explaining:
In general, an action for professional malpractice must be commenced within three years of the date of accrual. However, in this case, the engagement letters shortened the limitations period of all claims to one year. A claim accrues when the malpractice is committed, not when the client discovers it.
Plaintiffs allege that they implemented defendants’ advice in 2013 and 2014. Thus, defendants committed the alleged malpractice by the end of 2014 at the latest. Accordingly, plaintiffs’ deadline to file a malpractice claim — absent equitable estoppel or continuous representation — was the end of 2015. Plaintiffs, however, did not sue until 2019, and neither the equitable estoppel doctrine nor the continuous representation doctrine applies to their malpractice claims.
(Internal quotations and citations omitted).