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Torts — statute of limitations — discovery rule

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//August 18, 2014//

Torts — statute of limitations — discovery rule

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//August 18, 2014//

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U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit

Civil

Torts — statute of limitations — discovery rule

A former client’s claim that its attorneys defrauded it was properly dismissed as untimely.

“There are several clear indications that KDC had the knowledge to sue Gray Plant within the statutory period. The clearest is KDC’s demand letter to GPM dated March 26, 2012, enclosing a draft complaint. It is obvious from the complaint and the letter that the company had learned of its potential cause of action by that date, which is within the six-year period calculated starting the day Sullivan received the file from Gray Plant. But even before that date, the company and its employees had sufficient knowledge to file this suit. Attorney Erhard’s internal emails show that he had recognized, and alerted KDC’s bankruptcy trustee, to the potential lawsuit by July 14, 2011, and even flagged the statute of limitations issue to KDC’s attention. He stated that ‘[a]s it relates to the applicable statutes of limitations, we calculate that if at all possible the suit against Gray, Plant, Mooty should be filed by no later than the end of August [2011].’ And we cannot overlook the fact that in arguing to us about the discovery rule, KDC adamantly claims that it discovered the potential fraud at the Bohl and Tenenbaum depositions in September 2008, more than three and a half years before the statutory period would run.”

Affirmed.

13-3678 KDC Foods Inc. v. Gray Plant Mooty Mooty & Bennett P.A.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Crabb, J., Tinder, J.

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