An attorney-client relationship may exist even if there’s no written retainer agreement.

Edelman v Berman, 195 AD3d 995 [2d Dept 2021] serves as a good reminder that, just because there is no written retainer agreement, does not mean that an attorney-client relationship does not possibly exist. The court held:

An attorney-client relationship may arise even in the absence of a written retainer agreement, and a court must look to the words and actions of the parties to determine whether such a relationship exists (see Tropp v. Lumer, 23 A.D.3d 550, 551, 806 N.Y.S.2d 599). Here, according the plaintiff the benefit of every favorable inference, she sufficiently alleged the existence of an attorney-client relationship (see Hall v. Hobbick, 192 A.D.3d 776, 144 N.Y.S.3d 88; see also Tropp v. Lumer, 23 A.D.3d at 551, 806 N.Y.S.2d 599).