 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Sharts v. Natelson6/30/1993
ALARID, Judge.
Wallace G. Sharts (hereinafter "Sharts") sued Stephen Natelson and Natelson and Ross (hereinafter "Natelson") for legal malpractice. Natelson moved for summary judgment on the basis that the action was barred by the four year statute of limitations, NMSA 1978, ยงยง 37-1-1 and -4 (Repl. Pamp. 1990). Relying on , the trial court denied the motion, finding a genuine issue of fact existed as to whether harm or loss in fact sufficient to accrue a cause of action in legal malpractice existed at a time which would make Sharts' claim vulnerable to the statute of limitations. The trial court certified its ruling for interlocutory appeal and this court granted the application. The question of law presented by this appeal is when may a trial court rule, as a matter of law, that harm or loss in fact exists sufficient for a cause of action in legal malpractice to accrue and begin the running of the four year limitation period provided by Sections 37-1-1 and -4. We affirm.
I. FACTS
The pleadings, depositions, and exhibits establish that this case involves restrictive covenants Natelson drafted for property owned by Sharts. The property in question is a sixty-acre tract of land located in Taos County. Sharts contends he asked Natelson to draft restrictive covenants for a thirty-acre portion (Tract One) of the sixty-acre tract. The relevant portion of the covenants purported to restrict the size of the individual lots on Tract One to a three-acre minimum. Several lots within Tract One were acquired by individual purchasers after the restrictive covenants were recorded.
After the sale of these lots, Sharts decided to develop the remaining thirty acres (Tract Two) into a residential subdivision. He planned to divide Tract Two into half-acre lots. However, in May 1981, Sharts received a letter from an attorney threatening to take legal action to enforce the restrictive covenants on Tract Two which Sharts contended only governed Tract One. During 1983, while preparing to close loans for purchasers in the planned subdivision, a title company involved in the transactions informed Sharts that it interpreted the restrictive covenants as applying to both Tract One and Tract Two. Because the proposed subdivision lots were smaller than permitted in the restrictive covenants, the title company considered the covenants an impermissible cloud on the title of lots within Tract Two. Without title insurance, the bank refused to fund the loans. In addition, on approximately April 14, 1983, Sharts received a letter from attorneys for owners of lots in Tract One threatening to take legal action to enforce the three-acre lot restriction on Tract Two.
Between 1983 and 1984, to cure the problem, Natelson suggested that waivers and modifications of the restrictive covenants be obtained from purchasers of lots in Tract One. However, Natelson was unable to obtain the necessary waivers or modifications. Natelson then suggested that Sharts seek a declaratory judgment action establishing that the restrictive covenants did not apply to Tract Two. Sharts authorized Natelson to proceed, and Sharts filed the action on December 17, 1984.
On April 3, 1985, while the declaratory judgment action was pending, Sharts wrote Natelson a letter complaining about the course of the litigation. In the letter, Sharts essentially made two admonitory statements. First, Sharts stated that even if he prevailed in the declaratory judgment action, he would sue Natelson for approximately $35,000. Sharts justified this figure as damages resulting from interest payments made while waiting for Natelson to cure "legal errors" he should have corrected two ye
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 New Mexico Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|