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Hargett v. Holland9/9/1994
d into a security agreement with DBE. Because defendant did not perfect plaintiff's security interest before DBE's petition for bankruptcy on 25 September 1978, the plaintiff was subordinated as a creditor. Plaintiff's lawsuit was filed more than three years after the date of closing of the sale but less than three years after the filing of the bankruptcy petition. The Court of Appeals held the three-year statute of limitations did not begin to run until the filing of DBE's petition for bankruptcy, before which, the court concluded, plaintiff had not been harmed. Id. at 753, 294 S.E.2d at 410.
Sunbow is distinguishable. First, Sunbow involved the three-year statute of limitations provision in the professional malpractice limitations statute, rather than the statute of repose provision. More pertinently, defendant in Sunbow was retained for the purpose of representing the plaintiff during the closing and for perfecting plaintiff's security interest in the assets. Therefore, it was reasonable to conclude defendant had a continuing duty to file the financing statement up until the time of the bankruptcy petition, and that his failure to do so immediately prior to that time was defendant's last act giving rise to plaintiff's claim.
In Sunbow as here it was the contractual arrangement between attorney and client that determined the extent of the attorney's duty to the client and the end of the attorney's professional obligation. Because of the contractual arrangement between testator and defendant here, defendant's professional obligations concluded with his preparation of the will and the supervision of its execution, the latter act becoming his last act giving rise to the claim.
For the foregoing reasons, the decision of the Court of Appeals is reversed.
REVERSED.
Disposition
REVERSED.
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