Huff v. Roach
Decision Date | 10 February 2005 |
Docket Number | No. 22366-3-III.,22366-3-III. |
Court | Washington Court of Appeals |
Parties | Brenda and Shurwin HUFF, husband and wife, Appellants, v. Patrick T. ROACH; Roach & Ramming, Law Offices, P.S.; Johnston & Roach, P.S.; John Doe. 1, Respondents. |
Earl M. Sutherland, Jennifer L. Moore, Reed McClure, Seattle, WA, for Appellant.
Carl A. Taylor Lopez, Lopez & Fantel, Seattle, WA, for Respondent.
Brenda and Shurwin Huff filed a malpractice claim against their former attorney, Patrick T. Roach,1 nearly seven years after they discovered he had missed the Oregon statute of limitations in their underlying personal injury claims. Reasoning the legal negligence claim accrued upon discovery and was time barred, the trial court granted summary judgment dismissal. Mr. and Mrs. Huff contend their negligence claim did not accrue until they later suffered "damages" when the statute of limitations defense was actually raised in their Oregon personal injury lawsuit. We find that the negligence claim accrued upon suffering injury, meaning damage. We further clarify that "damages" are the monetary value of the injury or damage. We reject the proposal to extend the time limits until damages are known. Accordingly, we affirm.
The Huff family was involved in a motor vehicle accident in Oregon on February 13, 1993. Mr. and Mrs. Huff (the Huffs) and Forrest, the parties' minor son, allegedly were injured. The Huffs retained Washington attorney Patrick Roach, to represent them on February 25, 1993. When the Oregon two-year statute of limitations for the Huffs' claims for Forrest's medical expenses, passed on February 13, 1995, Mr. Roach had not filed a lawsuit on their behalf. As a minor, Forrest's personal claims were unaffected.
On June 8, 1995, Mr. Roach received notice Mr. and Mrs. Huff had retained Carl A. Taylor Lopez to represent them. By June 24, 1995, the Huffs had notice, through their new attorney, that Mr. Roach had missed the statute of limitations in their personal injury case. The Huffs apparently chose to litigate their underlying claims instead of bringing a legal malpractice claim against Mr. Roach.
Mr. Lopez filed the underlying suit in Oregon on August 7, 1998. From the complaint, it was unclear whether Mr. and Mrs. Huff were seeking damages on their own behalf or solely for Forrest. Thus, the Oregon defendants did not raise the statute of limitations issue until it became apparent Mr. and Mrs. Huff were seeking damages for themselves as well as for Forrest. Then, Mr. and Mrs. Huff voluntarily dismissed their personal claims on September 25, 2000, and settled Forrest's claims.
On May 23, 2002, Mr. and Mrs. Huff filed this legal malpractice suit against Mr. Roach. Mr. Roach successfully moved for summary judgment dismissal based upon his statute of limitations affirmative defense, arguing the claim was made nearly seven years after discovery. The trial court rejected the Huffs' argument that their malpractice case did not accrue until September 2000, when they dismissed their Oregon claims. The court partly reasoned the law did not require proof of a time-barred lawsuit or damages as a prerequisite to filing a legal malpractice claim. The Huffs appealed.
The issue is whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment dismissal of the Huffs' legal malpractice suit and concluding the action was time barred under the three-year statute of limitations based upon the discovery rule.
In reviewing summary judgment, we engage in the same inquiry as the trial court. Lavigne v. Chase, Haskell, Hayes & Kalamon, P.S., 112 Wash.App. 677, 682, 50 P.3d 306 (2002) (citing Huff v. Budbill, 141 Wash.2d 1, 7, 1 P.3d 1138 (2000)). Summary judgment is appropriate when no genuine issues of material fact exist, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id. We review all facts and reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and all issues of law de novo. Id. Here, the Huffs acknowledge no material fact issues exist.
The statute of limitations for a legal malpractice action in Washington is three years. RCW 4.16.080(3); Matson v. Weidenkopf, 101 Wash.App. 472, 481, 3 P.3d 805 (2000) (citing French v. Gabriel, 116 Wash.2d 584, 595, 806 P.2d 1234 (1991)). Generally, the statute of limitations accrues when the plaintiff has a right to seek relief in the courts. Janicki Logging & Constr. Co., v. Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, P.C., 109 Wash.App. 655, 659, 37 P.3d 309 (2001).
The discovery rule applies in legal malpractice actions, and the statute of limitations does not accrue "`until the client discovers, or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have discovered the facts which give rise to his or her cause of action.'" Matson, 101 Wash.App. at 482, 3 P.3d 805 (quoting Peters v. Simmons, 87 Wash.2d 400, 406, 552 P.2d 1053 (1976)). The rule does not specifically require knowledge of the existence of a legal cause of action. Matson, 101 Wash.App. at 482, 3 P.3d 805. Instead, the statute of limitations begins to run when "the plaintiff knew or should have known all of the essential elements of the cause of action." Id. Here, malpractice refers to legal negligence. "The elements of negligence are duty, breach, causation, and injury." Keller v. City of Spokane, 146 Wash.2d 237, 242, 44 P.3d 845 (2002) (emphasis added). The "injury" element refers to "damage," as opposed to "damages." "Damages" are the monetary value of the injury or damage proximately caused by the breach of alleged duty.
50 P.3d 306 (citing 3 RODNEY E. MALLEN & JEFFREY M. SMITH, LEGAL MALPRACTICE § 20.1, at 119 (5th ed.2000)). In the legal malpractice context, injury is the invasion of another's legal interest, while damages are the monetary value of those injuries. Id. Mr. and Mrs. Huff were injured by Mr. Roach when he missed the statute of limitations, effectively invading their legal interests. See id. at 683-84, 50 P.3d 306.
The Huffs' argument that they did not suffer damages until the statute of limitations defense was raised misses the point that their negligence claim accrued upon damage or injury. Thus, their citation to Gazija v. Nicholas Jerns Co., 86 Wash.2d 215, 543 P.2d 338 (1975) ( ) is inapt. In Gazija, the court found the injury occurred when the insurance company failed to correctly apply premium payments, but the damages were not realized until the insurance company refused to indemnify the insured after his boat sank. Id. at 223, 543 P.2d 338; see also Streifel v. Hansch, 40 Wash.App. 233, 237, 698 P.2d 570 (1985)
(. )
Other jurisdictions have declined to extend the discovery rule as proposed by the Huffs. See Brown v. Behles & Davis, 135 N.M. 180, 86 P.3d 605, 608 (N.M.Ct.App.2004)
( ); Fritzeen v. Gravel, 175 Vt. 537, 830 A.2d 49, 54 (2003) ( ); Uhler v. Doak, 268 Mont. 191, 200, 885 P.2d 1297 (1994) ( ); Finlayson v. Sanbrook, 10 Cal.App.4th 1436, 13 Cal.Rptr.2d 406 (1992) ( ).
Some jurisdictions appear to follow the rule urged by the Huffs, and effectively toll the statute of limitations until the underlying claim is concluded. See Wagner v. Sellinger, 847 A.2d 1151, 1156 (D.C.App.2004)
( ); Lucey v. Law Offices of Pretzel Stouffer, 301 Ill.App.3d 349, 355, 234 Ill.Dec. 612, 703 N.E.2d 473 (1998) ( ); Welborn v. Shipman, 608 So.2d 334, 336 (Ala.1992) (...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Hipple v. Mcfadden
...Representation Rule ¶ 10 The statute of limitations for attorney malpractice action is three years. RCW 4.16.080(3); Huff v. Roach, 125 Wash.App. 724, 729, 106 P.3d 268, review denied, 155 Wash.2d 1023, 126 P.3d 1279 (2005). The “continuous representation” rule tolls the statute of limitati......
-
Beck v. Tacoma City Light, No. 30329-9-II (WA 4/12/2005)
...45 (emphasis removed; capitalization removed). 23. Keller v. City of Spokane, 146 Wn.2d 237, 242, 44 P.3d 845 (2002); Huff v. Roach, ___ Wn. App. ___, 106 P.3d 268 (2005); Gaines v. Pierce County, 66 Wn. App. 715, 720, 834 P.2d 631 (1992), review denied, 120 Wn.2d 1021 (1993). 24. RP (Nov. ......
-
City of Moses Lake v. U.S.
...786 F.Supp. 1545, 1548 (D.Idaho 1992). 19. The elements of negligence are duty, breach, causation, and injury. Huff v. Roach, 125 Wash.App. 724, 729, 106 P.3d 268 (2005). The injury element refers to "damage" as opposed to "damages" which are the monetary value of the injury or damage proxi......
-
Jensen v. Young
...claim for legal malpractice accrues on the date that the attorney misses the statute of limitations. Id.; see also Huff v. Roach, 125 Wash.App. 724, 106 P.3d 268, 270 (2005) (indicating that the statute of limitations begins to run on a legal malpractice claim when the attorney "misse[s] th......