The statute of limitations for legal malpractice claims in Tennessee is one year from the date the action accrues. Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(a)(2). The “discovery rule” determines when the action accrues in most legal malpractice cases. Tennessee’s discovery rule says that a plaintiff’s time limit to file suit does…
I am fortunate to receive many calls on many types of cases, some of which fall outside of my normal practice area. i decided I would seek out a lawyer to whom I could associate on a particular type of case – this lawyer enjoyed a good reputation on cases…
The defendant and his law firm was hired to bring a wrongful death action for decendent’s (Anderson’s) estate and to assert loss of consortium action by Anderson’s wife. The case was dismissed, arguably after the experts in the case were thrown out after a Daubert challenge.. Lawyer did not timely…
I serve on the Standards Committee of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, a division of the National Board of Legal Specialty Certification. Our members have a duty to report legal malpractice claims that have been filed against them, so from time to time I see claims filed by liability…
A plaintiff in a car accident lawsuit has become a legal malpractice plaintiff. Sharon Langford has sued a law firm with office in Kentucky and Florida and made some very serious allegations. Basically, she was alleged to seek health care for her injuries from a specific provider and that…
Legal Malpractice Law Review brought to my attention an interesting legal malpractice case from 1979 in Pennsylvania, Schenkel v. Monheit, 226 Pa. Super. 396 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1979). The plaintiff’s lawyer in the underlying case (and now the defendant) failed to sue the original defendant’s employer in an auto accident case. Plaintiff…
I have written in the past about whether a plaintiff in a legal malpractice action arising out of the alleged mishandling of the plaintiff’s underlying case should have to prove not only that the firm committed malpractice and that damages would have been awarded if malpractice had not occurred but…
I know I did a post on this subject a couple of weeks ago, linking to a site that had some techniques to help lawyers avoid malpractice claims. But here is another site with yet another handy list of fourteen ways to avoid a claim. A sample taken directly from the site: …
This post from the New York Attorney Malpractice Blog includes the full text of an article from New York Lawyer titled "Legal Malpractice Cases May Surge as the Economy Tanks." The article says that " [a] recent American Bar Association (ABA) study that looked at legal malpractice claims filed between…
The American Bar Association has a nice paper titled "The Top Ten Malpractice Traps and How to Avoid Them." The paper is excerpted from "Desk Guide Legal Malpractice." Not all of the "traps" are applicable to those who do tort work on a full-time basis, but there is a lot…