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Legal malpractice case filed too late
May 30, 2010 -- A group of 50 plaintiffs, represented by Kentucky lawyer Angela Ford, filed a lawsuit against their Kentucky attorney and an Alabama law firm, alleging legal malpractice, misreprentation and breach of fiduciary duty. In Kentucky, the statute of limitations for a lawsuit against a lawyer is one year. This deadline can be extended by the "discovery rule", meaning the clock does not start ticking until the wronged person knows or should have known of the lawyer's bad act.
However, the Kentucky Court of Appeals found that the plaintiffs' cause of action arose in Alabama and that, pursuant to Kentucky's "borrowing statute", the Alabama statute of limitations was applicable. Alabama's statute of limitations for attorney malpractice cases is two years, and Alabama's "discovery rule" is limited to an additional six months (compared to Kentucky's rule that has no limitation). As the plaintiffs' lawsuit was filed past this deadline, the case was properly dismissed.
It is unknown at this time whether the plaintiffs will appeal to the Kentucky Supreme Court. The case is styled Barbara Abel, et al. v. J. Brent Austin et al., 2009-CA-0000465-MR, issued on May 28, 2009 (to be published).
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