A Pennsylvania divorcee’s legal malpractice suit against a veteran family law practitioner must go forward because a trial court erred in deciding factual issues tied to whether the divorcee ran afoul of the statute of limitations based on when she should have known of her alleged malpractice injury, an appeals court has ruled.

On a motion to dismiss Donna Johnstone’s malpractice action, “the trial court summarily dismissed Johnstone’s reasons offered to explain why she was unaware of [former lawyer Michael] Raffaele’s malpractice until the date the trial judge ruled on her underlying lawsuit” that had levied claims against her ex-husband for allegedly hiding marital assets, wrote the Pennsylvania Superior Court in its opinion.