Tolling of Legal Malpractice Claim Survives Remand
The Dallas Court of Appeals recently held that the statute of limitations is tolled in a legal malpractice case throughout the underlying case including the appeal, remand, and any new trial, and subsequent appellate proceedings. In this case, the plaintiff filed a suit for legal malpractice and the defendant moved for summary judgment based on limitations. The trial court granted summary judgment for the defendant on all claims. On appeal, the court of appeals applied the Hughes doctine which requires tolling of limitations during the pendency of the case in which the alleged malpractice occurred. Defendant argued that the Hughes doctrine only tolled limitations through the conclusion of initial appellate proceedings in the underlying case. The court of appeals disagreed because the initial appeal resulted in a remand for a new trial and the underlying divorce case was on appeal for the second time. The court noted that the "Hughes doctrine continues to apply for tolling purposes until all appeals in the underlying divorce are exhausted." Thus, "litigation was still ongoing for tolling purposes." Accordingly, the court of appeals reversed the trial court as to the professional negligence claim. The court's opinion in Pollard v. Hanschen can be found at this link.
