by Christopher Graham and Joseph Kelly

Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Cheeley Co. v. Davis Case No. 1:11CV851 (S.D. Ohio Aug. 13, 2013)

Plaintiff law firm sued its former client for unpaid legal fees. The former client counterclaimed for malpractice against the firm.

Under Ohio law, only individual attorneys — not law firms — may be sued for legal malpractice. After the expiration of the one-year legal malpractice statute of limitations, the firm moved for summary judgment. The former client filed a response and a motion to amend the complaint to name the individual attorneys rather than the firm.

The District Court granted the former client’s motion to amend.

FRCP 15(c)(1)(C)(ii) provides that an amendment to a pleading changing a party relates back to the original pleading if: (1) there was a mistake concerning the identity of a prospective defendant; and (2) whether a prospective defendant knew or should have known that it would have been sued but for the mistake of identity.

The firm argued that former client made a deliberate choice to sue the firm rather than the individual attorneys and that even though the former client knew the individual lawyer’s names, he only sued the firm.

The Court rejected the firm’s argument, holding “[a]bsent a clear indication that [the former client] intentionally used the wrong entity, or that the amendment would unfairly prejudice the individual attorneys, the technical pleading rules should not operate to preclude a decision on this dispute on its merits.”

Tags: Ohio, legal malpractice, statute of limitations