Opinion
May 12, 1992
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Karla Moskowitz, J.).
Generally, receipt and retention of a law firm's accounts, without objection within a reasonable time, and an agreement to pay a portion of the indebtedness, gives rise to an account stated (Rosenman Colin Freund Lewis Cohen v. Edelman, 160 A.D.2d 626).
Plaintiff commenced this action to recover unpaid legal fees and disbursements in the total sum of $25,942. For purposes of the summary judgment motion, defendant's claim was sufficient to rebut any inference of an implied agreement to pay the stated amount (Diamond Golomb v. D'Arc, 140 A.D.2d 183). While defendant did not deny that she was liable to plaintiff for services rendered, she questioned the amount due. Furthermore, plaintiff provided defendant with billing statements which showed a balance due, but which did not recite the nature of the services rendered or the hours expended. A copy of time sheets, coupled with explanations, was provided at the hearing to assess damages. In addition, plaintiff testified that, based on its compilation of hours and costs, plaintiff's ultimate bill came to $40,063, slightly more than was asserted in its complaint. Thus, sufficient material questions of fact existed to warrant the IAS court's denial of plaintiff's request for full summary judgment on the theory of an account stated and to direct a trial to determine the amount due, resulting in a judgment based on the reasonable value of plaintiff's services (Epstein Reiss Goodman v. Greenfield, 102 A.D.2d 749).
Concur — Rosenberger, J.P., Wallach, Ross, Asch and Kassal, JJ.