CACI 611 Affirmative Defense—Statute of Limitations—Attorney Malpractice—Four-Year Limit (Code Civ. Proc., § 340.6)

New April 2007; Revised April 2009

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Use CACI No. 610, Affirmative Defense—Statute of Limitations—Attorney Malpractice—One-Year Limit, if the one-year limitation provision is at issue.

If no tolling provision from Code of Civil Procedure section 340.6 is at issue, read only through the end of the first paragraph. Read the rest of the instruction if there is a question of fact concerning a tolling provision. If so, the verdict form should ask the jury to find (1) the date on which the alleged wrongful act or omission occurred; (2) whether the tolling provision applies; and (3) if so, for what period of time. The court can then add the additional time to the date on which the alleged wrongful act or omission occurred and determine whether the action is timely.

The court may need to define the term “actual injury” depending on the facts and circumstances of the particular case.

•Statute of Limitation for Attorney Malpractice. Code of Civil Procedure section 340.6.

•Persons Under Disabilities. Code of Civil Procedure section 352.

•“Under section 340.6, the one-year limitations period commences when the plaintiff actually or constructively discovers the facts of the wrongful act or omission, but the period is tolled until the plaintiff sustains actual injury. That is to say, the statute of limitations will not run during the time the plaintiff cannot bring a cause of action for damages from professional negligence.” (Jordache Enterprises, Inc. v. Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison (1998) 18 Cal.4th 739, 751 [76 Cal.Rptr.2d 749, 958 P.2d 1062].)

•“Actual injury refers only to the legally cognizable damage necessary to assert the cause of action. There is no requirement that an adjudication or settlement must first confirm a causal nexus between the attorney’s error and the asserted injury. The determination of actual injury requires only a factual analysis of the claimed error and its consequences. The inquiry necessarily is more qualitative than quantitative because the fact of damage, rather than the amount, is the critical factor.” (Truong v. Glasser (2009) 181 Cal.App.4th 102, 113 [103 Cal.Rptr.3d 811].)

•“ ‘[S]ection 340.6, subdivision (a)(1), will not toll the limitations period once the client can plead damages that could establish a cause of action for legal malpractice.’ ‘[T]he limitations period is not tolled after the plaintiff sustains actual injury [even] if the injury is, in some sense, remediable. [Citation.] Furthermore, the statutory scheme does not depend on the plaintiff’s recognizing actual injury. Actual injury must be noticeable, but the language of the tolling provision does not require that it be noticed.’ On the other hand, ‘the statute of limitations will not run during the time the plaintiff cannot bring a cause of action for damages from professional negligence’ because the plaintiff cannot allege actual injury resulted from an attorney’s malpractice.” (Croucier v. Chavos (2012) 207 Cal.App.4th 1138, 1148 [144 Cal.Rptr.3d 180], internal citations omitted.)

•“[A]ctual injury exists even if the client has yet to ‘sustain[] all, or even the greater part, of the damages occasioned by his attorney’s negligence’; even if the client will encounter ‘difficulty in proving damages’; and even if that damage might be mitigated or entirely eliminated in the future. [¶] However, ‘actual injury’ does not include ‘speculative and contingent injuries … that do not yet exist … .’ ” (Shaoxing City Maolong Wuzhong Down Products, Ltd. v. Keehn & Associates, APC (2015) 238 Cal.App.4th 1031, 1036 [190 Cal.Rptr.3d 90], internal citations omitted.)

•“[B]ecause ‘determining actual injury is predominately a factual inquiry’ to the extent a question remains on this point, the matter is properly resolved by the trier of fact … .” (Callahan v. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP (2011) 194 Cal.App.4th 557, 576 [125 Cal.Rptr.3d 120].)

•“[W]here, as here, the ‘material facts are undisputed, the trial court can resolve the matter [of actual injury] as a question of law in conformity with summary judgment principles.’ ” (Shaoxing City Maolong Wuzhong Down Products, Ltd., supra, 238 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1037–1038.)

•“[P]rior to the enactment of section 340.6 the running of the statute of limitations coincided with accrual of the plaintiff’s malpractice cause of action, including damages. By contrast, under the provisions of section 340.6, discovery of the negligent act or omission initiates the statutory period, and the absence of injury or damages serves as a tolling factor.” (Adams v. Paul (1995) 11 Cal.4th 583, 598 fn. 2 [46 Cal.Rptr.2d 594, 904 P.2d 1205], internal citations omitted.)

•“[A] defendant must prove the facts necessary to enjoy the benefit of a statute of limitations.” (Samuels v. Mix (1999) 22 Cal.4th 1, 10 [91 Cal.Rptr.2d 273, 989 P.2d 701], internal citations omitted.)

•“In ordinary tort and contract actions, the statute of limitations, it is true, begins to run upon the occurrence of the last element essential to the cause of action. The plaintiff’s ignorance of the cause of action, or of the identity of the wrongdoer, does not toll the statute. In cases of professional malpractice, however, postponement of the period of limitations until discovery finds justification in the special nature of the relationship between the professional man and his client.” (Neel v. Magana, Olney, Levy, Cathcart & Gelfand (1971) 6 Cal.3d 176, 187–188 [98 Cal.Rptr. 837, 491 P.2d 421], footnote omitted.)

•“If the allegedly negligent conduct does not cause damage, it generates no cause of action in tort. The mere breach of a professional duty, causing only nominal damages, speculative harm, or the threat of future harm—not yet realized—does not suffice to create a cause of action for negligence. Hence, until the client suffers appreciable harm as a consequence of his attorney’s negligence, the client cannot establish a cause of action for malpractice.” (Budd v. Nixen (1971) 6 Cal.3d 195, 200 [98 Cal.Rptr. 849, 491 P.2d 433], internal citations omitted.)

•“A plaintiff who is aware of, and has been actually injured by, attorney malpractice in a matter need not file suit for malpractice while that attorney is still representing him on the same ‘specific subject matter.’ ” (Shaoxing City Maolong Wuzhong Down Products, Ltd., supra, 238 Cal.App.4th at p. 1038.)

•“The continuous representation tolling provision in section 340.6, subdivision (a)(2) ‘was adopted in order to “avoid the disruption of an attorney-client relationship by a lawsuit while enabling the attorney to correct or minimize an apparent error, and to prevent an attorney from defeating a malpractice cause of action by continuing to represent the client until the statutory period has expired.” ’ ” (Kelly v. Orr (2016) 243 Cal.App.4th 940, 950 [196 Cal.Rptr.3d 901].)

•“The mere existence of an attorney-client relationship does not trigger the continuous representation rule: ‘Instead, the statute’s tolling language addresses a particular phase of such a relationship-representation regarding a specific subject matter. Moreover, the limitations period is not tolled when an attorney’s subsequent role is only tangentially related to the legal representation the attorney provided to the plaintiff. Therefore, “[t]he inquiry is not whether an attorney-client relationship still exists but when the representation of the specific matter terminated.” ’ Tolling does not apply where there is a continuing relationship between the attorney and client ‘involving only unrelated matters.’ ” (Lockton v. O’Rourke (2010) 184 Cal.App.4th 1051, 1064 [109 Cal.Rptr.3d 392], original italics, internal citations omitted.)

•“[W]here a client hires a law firm to represent it, the provisions of section 340.6 apply to that firm; the term ‘attorney’ in section 340.6 may embrace the entire partnership, law corporation, or other legal entity the client retains. [¶] That either an attorney or a firm may be the subject of an action does not support a reading under which representation by one attorney or firm might toll the limitations period as to another no longer affiliated attorney or firm. Rather, the text implies an action against a law firm is tolled so long as that firm continues representation, just as an action against an attorney is tolled so long as that attorney continues representation, but representation by one attorney or firm does not toll claims that may exist against a different, unaffiliated attorney or firm.” (Beal Bank, SSB v. Arter & Hadden, LLP (2007) 42 Cal.4th 503, 509 [66 Cal.Rptr.3d 52, 167 P.3d 666], original italics.)

•“ ‘[W]hen an attorney leaves a firm and takes a client with him or her, … the tolling in ongoing matters [does not] continue for claims against the former firm and partners.’ ” (Stueve Bros. Farms, LLC v. Berger Kahn (2013) 222 Cal.App.4th 303, 314 [166 Cal.Rptr.3d 116].)

•“ ‘Ordinarily, an attorney’s representation is not completed until the agreed tasks or events have occurred, the client consents to termination or a court grants an application by counsel for withdrawal.’ ‘The rule is that, for purposes of the statute of limitations, the attorney’s representation is concluded when the parties so agree, and that result does not depend upon formal termination, such as withdrawing as counsel of record.’ ‘Continuity of representation ultimately depends, not on the client’s subjective beliefs, but rather on evidence of an ongoing mutual relationship and of activities in furtherance of the relationship.’ ” (Nielsen v. Beck (2007) 157 Cal.App.4th 1041, 1049 [69 Cal.Rptr.3d 435], internal citations omitted.)

•“[T]he continuous representation tolling provision in section 340.6, subdivision (a)(2), applies to toll legal malpractice claims brought by successor trustees against attorneys who represented the predecessor trustee.” (Kelly, supra, 243 Cal.App.4th at p. 951.)

•“[A]bsent a statutory standard to determine when an attorney’s representation of a client regarding a specific subject matter ends, and consistent with the purposes of the continuing representation rule, we conclude that for purposes of … section 340.6, subdivision (a)(2), in the event of an attorney’s unilateral withdrawal or abandonment of the client, the representation ends when the client actually has or reasonably should have no expectation that the attorney will provide further legal services. … That may occur upon the attorney’s express notification to the client that the attorney will perform no further services, or, if the attorney remains silent, may be inferred from the circumstances. Absent actual notice to the client that the attorney will perform no further legal services or circumstances that reasonably should cause the client to so conclude, a client should be entitled to rely on an attorney to perform the agreed services and should not be required to interrupt the attorney-client relationship by filing a malpractice complaint. After a client has no reasonable expectation that the attorney will provide further legal services, however, the client is no longer hindered by a potential disruption of the attorney-client relationship and no longer relies on the attorney’s continuing representation, so the tolling should end. To this extent and for these reasons, we conclude that continuous representation should be viewed objectively from the client’s perspective … .” (Laclette v. Galindo (2010) 184 Cal.App.4th 919, 928 [109 Cal.Rptr.3d 660], original italics.)

•“Continuity of representation ultimately depends, not on the client’s subjective beliefs, but rather on evidence of an ongoing mutual relationship and of activities in furtherance of the relationship.” (GoTek Energy, Inc. v. SoCal IP Law Group, LLP (2016) 3 Cal.App.5th 1240, 1248 [208 Cal.Rptr.3d 428], original italics.)

•“[T]he fourth tolling provision of section 340.6, subdivision (a)—that is, the provision applicable to legal and physical disabilities—encompasses the circumstances set forth in section 351 [exception, where defendant is out of the state].” (Jocer Enterprises, Inc. v. Price (2010) 183 Cal.App.4th 559, 569 [107 Cal.Rptr.3d 539].)

•“[A] would-be plaintiff is ‘imprisoned on a criminal charge’ within the meaning of section 352.1 if he or she is serving a term of imprisonment in the state prison.” (Austin v. Medicis (2018) 21 Cal.App.5th 577, 597 [230 Cal.Rptr.3d 528].)

•“In light of the Legislature’s intent that section 340.6(a) cover more than claims for legal malpractice, the term ‘professional services’ is best understood to include nonlegal services governed by an attorney’s professional obligations.” (Lee v. Hanley (2015) 61 Cal.4th 1225, 1237 [191 Cal.Rptr.3d 536, 354 P.3d 334].)

•“For purposes of section 340.6(a), the question is not simply whether a claim alleges misconduct that entails the violation of a professional obligation. Rather, the question is whether the claim, in order to succeed, necessarily depends on proof that an attorney violated a professional obligation as opposed to some generally applicable nonprofessional obligation.” (Lee, supra, 61 Cal.4th at p. 1238.)

•“Lee held that ‘section 340.6(a)’s time bar applies to claims whose merits necessarily depend on proof that an attorney violated a professional obligation in the course of providing professional services. In this context, a “professional obligation” is an obligation that an attorney has by virtue of being an attorney, such as fiduciary obligations, the obligation to perform competently, the obligation to perform the services contemplated in a legal services contract into which an attorney has entered, and the obligations embodied in the State Bar Rules of Professional Conduct.’ ” (Foxen v. Carpenter (2016) 6 Cal.App.5th 284, 292 [211 Cal.Rptr.3d 372].)

•“In sum, consistent with Lee, section 340.6(a) applies to malicious prosecution claims against attorneys who performed professional services in the underlying litigation.” (Connelly v. Bornstein (2019) 33 Cal.App.5th 783, 799 [245 Cal.Rptr.3d 452].)