ROBERT A. HOWARD, APPELLANT,
v.
MINNESOTA MUSKIES, INC., AND EUGENE E. STEARNS, APPELLEES
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Robert Howard appealed a summary judgment dismissing his attorney malpractice claim against Eugene Stearns and his related fraud-on-the-court action against Minnesota Muskies, Inc. The court affirmed, holding the malpractice claim time-barred under Florida's two-year statute of limitations and rejecting the fraud-on-the-court theory because attorney negligence does not constitute fraud.
The malpractice claim was time-barred under the two-year statute of limitations because Howard should have discovered the alleged negligence by May 1978 at the latest, yet filed suit well over two years later. The fraud-on-the-court claim failed as a matter of law because attorney negligence does not constitute fraud, and the conduct did not mislead the court regarding jurisdiction or parties.
[1] An attorney malpractice claim is time-barred by the applicable two-year statute of limitations when the plaintiff, with the exercise of due diligence, should have discove…
[2] A plaintiff's failure to pursue inquiries after discovering a judgment against them and learning that their counsel is no longer with their firm, should put the plaintiff…
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“By the time he filed the subject suit, well over two years had expired, as a matter of law, from the time he should have discovered his attorney's alleged professional negligence.”
Establishes that the statute of limitations period had definitively elapsed before suit was filed, making the claim time-barred as a matter of law.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceHoward learned no later than May 1978 of a prior judgment entered against him. This judgment was a default judgment entered after his attorney, Stearn…
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PER CURIAM.
We affirm the summary final judgment entered in favor of the defendant Eugene E. Stearns on the attorney malpractice claim because it was time barred by the applicable two-year statute of limitations. § 95.11(4)(a), Fla.Stat. (1981). The plaintiff Robert A. Howard admittedly learned, no later than May 1978, of a prior judgment entered against him and, with the exercise of due diligence, should have learned shortly thereafter that this was a default judgment entered after his counsel, the defendant Stearns, had withdrawn; the alleged attorney malpractice was that Stearns withdrew without the plaintiff Howard’s knowledge or consent. Without dispute, the plaintiff Howard made only one effort thereafter to contact the defendant Stearns, to wit: he telephoned Stearns’ office only to discover that Stearns was no longer with the law firm where he previously had practiced. The plaintiff should have, at that point, been on notice that something was awry. Instead, he abandoned all inquiries in the matter, disregarded the judgment against him, and took no action whatever until several years later when serious collection efforts were made by the judgment creditor to collect on the judgment. By the time he filed the subject suit, well over two years had expired, as a matter of law, from the time he should have discovered his attorney’s alleged professional negligence. See Henzel v. Fink, 340 So. 2d 1262 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976), cert. denied, 348 So. 2d 948 (Fla.1977).
We further affirm the final summary judgment entered in favor of the defendant Minnesota Muskies, Inc. on the ground that the plaintiff Howard’s independent action to set aside the above prior judgment as being a fraud on the court created no genuine issues of material fact. As a matter of law, the above-stated, alleged professional negligence of the defendant Stearns in failing to notify the plaintiff Howard concerning the counsel’s withdrawal from the case did not constitute, as asserted, a fraud on the court because (a) the subject conduct was negligence at worst, not fraud, (b) the subject conduct in no way misled the court as to its jurisdiction over the subject matter or parties, and (c) the subject conduct was attributable entirely to the plaintiff’s own counsel. Alexander v. First National Bank of Titusville, 275 So. 2d 272 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973).
Affirmed.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Alexander v. First Nat'l Bank OF Titusville, 275 So. 2d 272 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973)
- Henzel v. Fink, 340 So. 2d 1262 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976)