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Sowerby v. Doyal

The applicable 4-year statute of limitation barred the plaintiff's legal malpractice action.

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This case involves a legal malpractice action that Marsha Doyal brought against her former attorney, Vincent D. Sowerby, and his law firm, The Law Office of Vincent D. Sowerby, P.C. Sowerby and the law firm moved to dismiss the action on the ground that it was barred by the statute of limitation. Doyal responded that the limitation period had been tolled by fraud. The trial court denied the motion, and we granted interlocutory review. For the following reasons, the limitation period was not tolled and the statute of limitation barred the action. Accordingly, we find that the trial court erred in denying the motion, and we reverse. The record shows that the trial court considered matters outside the complaint in ruling on the motion and that the court and parties treated the motion as one for summary judgment.1 We review the denial of a defendant’s motion for summary judgment de novo, viewing the evidence and all reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.2

So viewed, the evidence showed that Sowerby and the law firm represented Doyal in a domestic proceeding in which a contempt order was issued. Sowerby attempted to appeal that order in the Supreme Court of Georgia, but failed to follow the required discretionary application procedure.3 In early February 2005, Sowerby told Doyal that the appeal likely would be dismissed for this procedural deficiency, provided her with contact information for his professional liability insurance carrier, and advised her to seek other counsel regarding a potential claim against him. Doyal deposed that, based on her conversation with Sowerby, she was aware in February 2005 that she had a potential claim against him.

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