An action based upon a cause of action accruing without the state cannot be commenced after the expiration of the time limited by the laws of either the state or the place without the state where the cause of action accrued, except that where the cause of action accrued in favor of a resident of the state the time limited by the laws of the state shall apply.
Kat House Prods., LLC v Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, LLP, 2010 NY Slip Op 02489 (App. Div., 1st, 2010)
When a nonresident sues in New York's courts on a cause of action accruing outside the state, our "borrowing statute" (CPLR 202) requires that the cause of action be timely under the limitation periods of both New York and the jurisdiction where the claim arose (see Global Fin. Corp. v Triarc Corp., 93 NY2d 525, 528 [1999]). Generally, a tort action accrues "at the time and in the place of the injury," and "[w]hen an alleged injury is purely economic, the place of injury usually is where the plaintiff resides and sustains the economic impact of the loss" (id. at 529).
Applying these principles, it is clear that plaintiffs' legal malpractice claim accrued in California, where their residences and principal place of business were located and the alleged economic injury was sustained, at the latest, in March 2006. Under that state's applicable one-year statute of limitations (Cal Civ Proc Code § 340.6), this action, commenced in November 2007, was time-barred.
Note the difference in 202 where the plaintiff is a resident of New York.
