Is consulting a third party attorney for professional malpractice counsel constitute a termination of a client's relationship?

6 In O'Neill v. Tichy, the court "confronted [a] situation of clients who suspect[ed] their attorney [of committing] malpractice [and retained a] malpractice counsel, ... yet continu[ed] to utilize their attorney to perform services related to the matter in which the malpractice [was] suspected." (19 Cal.App.4th at p. 120, 25 Cal.Rptr.2d 162.) The court held that "so long as the client permits the attorney to continue representing the client regarding the specific subject matter in which the alleged negligence occurred," the statute of limitations is tolled. (Id. at p. 121, 25 Cal.Rptr.2d 162.) Since consulting another attorney is not tantamount to ending a prior relationship, the court will not use that occurrence as a benchmark which, standing alone, signals the termination of the attorney and client's relationship.