Coastal Broadway Associates v. Raphael

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Elliott Wilk, J.), entered July 10, 1997, which, in an action for legal malpractice, denied defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint as time-bárred, unanimously affirmed, without costs. While amended CPLR 214 (6) applies to actions, such as this, commenced after its September 4, 1996 effective date (Amateur Hockey Assn. v Parson, 244 AD2d 222), due process requires that plaintiff be given a reasonable period after September 4, 1996 to pursue a claim theretofore existing but immediately barred upon the immediately effective enactment of the amendment (see, Alston v Transport Workers Union, 225 AD2d 424). Based upon the record before us, we find that the commencement of the action five and a half months after September 4, 1996 was reasonable. Concur—Milonas, J. P., Rosenberger, Wallach, Williams and Mazzarelli, JJ.