Torts — legal malpractice — statute of limitations

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Wisconsin Court of Appeals

Civil

Torts — legal malpractice — statute of limitations

This is the second appeal arising out of a foreclosure action of a commercial property (“the Greenfield property”). In this case, Dagmar Griffin appeals from a grant of summary judgment dismissing, on statute of limitations grounds, her third-party complaint against Attorneys Terry E. Mitchell and Louis D. Kaiser and their professional liability insurer, CNA Insurance Company. Griffin argues that Mitchell and Kaiser deliberately delayed recording the mortgage she executed on the Greenfield property in 1998 to make it junior to that of First Bank Financial Centre, a fact Griffin did not learn until First Bank foreclosed on the property in 2008. The circuit court found that the latest date of legal injury was March 23, 2000, when she learned that her mortgage was only recently recorded. We agree with Griffin that whether she reasonably should have investigated the position of the mortgage at that point presents an issue of fact. We therefore reverse the judgment and remand for further proceedings. This opinion will not be published.

2010AP2971 First Bank Financial Centre vs. Miller, et al.

Dist II, Waukesha County, Mac Davis, J., Per Curiam

Attorneys: For Appellant: Kinstler, Brian, Milwaukee; Bizzaro, Amelia L., Milwaukee; For Respondent: Fiedler, Noah D., Milwaukee