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Preston v. University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences11/6/2003
attorney shall sign his pleading, motion, or other paper and state his address and telephone number, if any." In addition, Ark. R. Civ. P. 64(a), provides that, when additional counsel is employed to represent any party in a case, that counsel shall immediately cause the clerk to enter his name as attorney of record in the case and then shall notify the court and opposing counsel that he has been employed. Here, the lack of any signature by an attorney on the complaint is indicative of Appellants' pro se status at the time this action commenced.
Davenport, 348 Ark. at 158, 72 S.W.3d at 90.
We then determined, in Davenport, that the appellants were engaged in the unauthorized practice of law and said: "It is axiomatic that it is illegal to practice law in Arkansas without a license." Id. at 162, 72 S.W.3d at 92. We held that the complaint was a nullity and said:
In light of our duty to ensure that parties are represented by people knowledgeable and trained in the law, we cannot say that the unauthorized practice of law simply results in an amendable defect. Where a party not licensed to practice law in this state attempts to represent the interests of others by submitting himself or herself to jurisdiction of a court, those actions such as the filing of pleadings, are rendered a nullity.
Davenport, 348 Ark. at 164, 72 S.W.3d at 94. We further concluded that "the original complaint, as a nullity never existed, and thus, an amended complaint cannot relate back to something that never existed, nor can a nonexistent complaint be corrected." Id. We hold that the same is true for the case before us. The Davenport case governs our decision, and the Prestons' complaint is a nullity.
The Prestons finally claim that, because their attorneys were not licensed to practice law in Arkansas, it is as if the Prestons appeared pro se. They, however, did not appear pro se, because they hired attorneys to handle their case, and those attorneys signed the complaint. See Arkansas Bar Assn v. Union National Bank of Little Rock, supra. We added in Arkansas Bar Assn: "It is generally conceded that an individual who is not a licensed attorney can appear in the courts and engage in what is commonly conceded to be practicing law provided he does so for himself and in connection with his own business." 224 Ark. at 51, 273 S.W.2d at 410. The Prestons' pro se argument has no merit.
We next consider whether the statute of limitations has run on the Prestons' complaint. The statute of limitations for medical negligence applicable to this case reads in pertinent part:
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, all actions for medical injury shall be commenced within two (2) years after the cause of action accrues.
(b) The date of the accrual of the cause of action shall be the date of the wrongful act complained of and no other time. However, where the action is based upon the discovery of a foreign object in the body of the injured person which is not discovered and could not reasonably have been discovered within such two-year period, the action may be commenced within one (1) year from the date of discovery or the date the foreign object reasonably should have been discovered, whichever is earlier.
Ark. Code Ann. ยง 16-114-203 (Supp. 1999).
For purposes of the statute of limitations, it is the filing of the complaint that commences the cause of action. See Davenport v. Lee, supra. In the case at bar, Richard Preston underwent surgery to his left femur on November 19, 1999. On February 17, 2000, x-rays were taken and revealed debris in the muscle t
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