Rosenfield v. Rogin

Argued May 9, 2001 (Appeal from Superior Court, judicial district of Hartford, Peck, J.) Opinion In this legal malpractice action, the plaintiff, Edward Rosenfield, claims that the defendant law firm, Rogin, Nassau, Caplan, Lassman & Hirtle, LLC (defendant), failed to file in a timely manner a legal malpractice action on his behalf against his former attorney. The trial court rendered a summary judgment in favor of the defendant, and the plaintiff appealed, claiming that the court improperly concluded that (1) the collateral estoppel doctrine did not apply and (2) the continuing course of conduct and continuous representation doctrines tolled the statute of limitations in the underlying legal malpractice action. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. The following facts and procedural history are relevant to our resolution of the plaintiff's appeal. The initial legal malpractice action arose out of a foreclosure matter in which Levy & Droney, P.C. (Levy), represented the plaintiff. See Rosenfield v. Cymbala, Superior Court, judicial district of Middlesex, Docket No. 060180 (December 18, 1992). In that foreclosure action, the court, Higgins, J., orally rendered a judgment of dismissal on December 1, 1992, and issued a written memorandum of decision on December 18, 1992. Levy appealed from the judgment of dismissal on behalf of the plaintiff, and we affirmed the judgment in a per curiam opinion. Rosenfield v. Cymbala, 33 Conn. App. 931, 636 A.2d 881 (1994).