McHugh v. Fitzgerald

—Crew III, J.

Appeal from an order of the Supreme Court (Coutant, J.), entered December 1, 1999 in Broome County, which granted defendant Patricia Fitzgerald’s motion for an order of preclusion.

Plaintiffs retained the law firm of Finkelstein, Levine, Gittelsohn & Partners to represent them with regard to a dog bite sustained by plaintiff Patrick McHugh. The law firm wrote a letter to defendant Patricia Fitzgerald (hereinafter defendant), the homeowner upon whose premises the dog bite occurred, asking to hear from her insurance carrier, State Farm Insurance Company. A State Farm representative…