Opinion
December 24, 1990
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Murphy, J.).
Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.
In this long-standing dispute between attorney and client over fees for services rendered, the parties agreed that, because of settlement negotiations, the respondents, who had appeared in the action, were not required to serve an answer until 20 days after service by the plaintiff of written notice to do so. Inasmuch as the record is at best unclear as to whether the agreed-to notice was properly given, the respondents' counsel acted promptly upon learning that a default judgment had been entered, and the courts have a special interest in contracts between attorneys and clients (see, Cohen v. Ryan, 34 A.D.2d 789; cf., Matter of First Natl. Bank v. Brower, 42 N.Y.2d 471), the Supreme Court properly vacated the default judgment entered by the clerk (see, CPLR 3215 [a]; cf., CPLR 5015; Sortino v. Fisher, 20 A.D.2d 25, 32).
There are no bills or detailed statements of services included in the record, and, given the patent and long-standing objection by the respondents to the plaintiff's demands for fees, it is evident that an action on an account stated will not lie (cf., Law Firm of Liebowitz, Lasky Peterson v. Sikowitz, 129 A.D.2d 774; Sandvoss v. Dunkelberger, 112 A.D.2d 278). Under the circumstances presented here, a default judgment should not have been entered against the respondents by the clerk (cf., Cohen v. Ryan, supra). Bracken, J.P., Harwood, O'Brien and Ritter, JJ., concur.