Feldman v. Upton, Cohen & Slamowitz

*638OPINION OF THE COURT

Kenneth L. Gartner, J.

This case presents an issue specifically left unsettled by the Court of Appeals in Kleeman v Rheingold (81 NY2d 270 [1993]): whether an attorney may be held liable for the wrongs of a process server retained by the attorney to serve a summons and complaint, which cause damage not to the attorney’s own client, but to a potential defendant or other third parties.

The plaintiff is the husband of a purported debtor of the defendant law firm’s client. The plaintiff brings this action for damages allegedly arising from the wrongful restraint of a bank…