Who may bring legal malpractice claim?

ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP REQUIRED TO SUE FOR LEGAL MALPRACTICE

A legal malpractice claim is dependent on the existence of an attorney-client relationship. Barcelo v. Elliott, 923 S.W.2d 575, 577 (Tex. 1996) (attorney owes a duty of care only to his client, and privity rule requires this relationship as a predicate for legal malpractice claim); Gamboa v. Shaw, 959 S.W.2d 662, 664-65 (Tex. App.-San Antonio 1997, no pet.); see Swank v. Cunningham, 258 S.W.3d 647, 666 (Tex. App.-Eastland 2008, pet. denied) (applying privity rule).

Therefore, we must first determine whether an attorney-client relationship existed between Sloan and Gonzalez/the Law Office.

SOURCE: SAN ANTONIO COURT OF APPEALS - 04-13-00239-CV - 8/29/2014

The existence of an attorney-client relationship gives rise to a duty on the attorney's part to act with ordinary care, in other words, in a manner consistent with the standard of care expected to be exercised by a reasonably prudent attorney. Cosgrove, 774 S.W.2d at 664. An attorney must use "the utmost good faith in dealings with the client" and "reasonable care in rendering professional services to the client." Byrd, 891 S.W.2d at 700; see also Meyer v. Cathey, 167 S.W.3d 327, 330-31 (Tex. 2005) (per curiam) (in a formal relationship such as an attorney-client relationship a fiduciary duty arises as a matter of law). See TEX. DISCIPLINARY R. PROF'L CONDUCT §§ 1.01-8.05, reprinted in TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN., tit. 2, subtit. G, App. A, art. X (West 2013 & Supp. 2014) (rules defining attorney's responsibilities within an attorney-client relationship). An attorney's failure to exercise "that degree of care, skill, and diligence that a lawyer of ordinary skill and knowledge commonly possesses and exercises" gives rise to a legal malpractice or professional negligence claim.[6] Cosgrove, 774 S.W.2d at 664-65 (complaints about an attorney's care, skill, or diligence in representing a client implicate this duty of ordinary care and sound in negligence).

SOURCE: SAN ANTONIO COURT OF APPEALS - 04-13-00239-CV - 8/29/2014

The Texas rule against fracturing a negligence claim prevents legal malpractice plaintiffs from dividing a claim that sounds only in negligence into other claims in order to benefit from a longer limitations period, the availability of treble damages, or "other tactical advantages." Riverwalk, 391 S.W.3d at 236; Beck, 284 S.W.3d at 427; see Deutsch v. Hoover, Bax & Slovacek, 97 S.W.3d 179, 189 (Tex. App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2002, no pet.). When the real issue is whether the professional exercised that degree of care, skill and diligence that professionals of ordinary skill and knowledge commonly possess and exercise, then the complaint may not be "fractured" into separate claims for negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, breach of contract, or DTPA. Beck, 284 S.W.3d at 426-27; Kimleco Petroleum, Inc. v. Morrison & Shelton, 91 S.W.3d 921, 924 (Tex. App.-Fort Worth 2002, pet. denied).

The rule against fracturing does not, however, preclude a client from asserting causes of action other than negligence against an attorney if those other claims are supported by the facts. Riverwalk, 391 S.W.3d at 236; Murphy, 241 S.W.3d at 695; Deutsch, 97 S.W.3d at 189; see also Beck, 284 S.W.3d at 427-28 (noting the fracturing rule does not necessarily bar the simultaneous assertion of negligence and non-negligence claims that are predicated on some "common or overlapping facts"); Deutsch, 97 S.W.3d at 190. However, the client must do more than "merely reassert the same claim for legal malpractice under an alternative label." Beck, 284 S.W.3d at 427 (quoting Duerr v. Brown, 262 S.W.3d 63, 70 (Tex. App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2008, no pet.)). If the "gist" of the complaint is that the attorney did not exercise the degree of care, skill, or diligence that attorneys of ordinary skill and knowledge commonly possess and exercise, then the complaint should be pursued as a negligence claim rather than as some other claim. Riverwalk, 391 S.W.3d at 236; Beck, 284 S.W.3d at 427-28; Deutsch, 97 S.W.3d at 189-90. Claims regarding the quality of the lawyer's representation of the client are professional negligence claims. Murphy, 241 S.W.3d at 696-97; Ersek v. Davis & Davis, P.C., 69 S.W.3d 268, 274-75 (Tex. App.-Austin 2002, pet. denied) (if the ultimate issue is whether there has been a breach of duty leading to damages, then the claim constitutes a negligence claim).

SOURCE: SAN ANTONIO COURT OF APPEALS - 04-13-00239-CV - 8/29/2014