A Crittenden County, Arkansas, nursing home operator was awarded an $800,000 judgment against its former attorney in a legal malpractice case, following the lawyer's failure to timely respond to a lawsuit filed against the nursing home.
The award was the result of a three-day jury trial in the U.S. District Court in Helena, Arkansas.
The malpractice suit arose from claims that in 2022, the nursing home had been sued for wrongful death by the estate of one of its patients. In the months preceding the filing of the wrongful death lawsuit, the estate's attorney and the defendant lawyer, who was representing the nursing home, had discussed the case. At the beginning of 2022, the estate emailed the defendant attorney a courtesy copy of the filed complaint. In March, the estate began serving the complaint on all other defendants. According to the record, about this time, both attorneys stopped communicating with each other. The nursing home did not file a response to the complaint.
In July 2022, the estate filed and was granted a motion for default judgment. It was only then that the nursing home's attorney responded, seeking its dismissal. The attorney said the nursing home would have defended the lawsuit "except for the honest and unfortunate misunderstanding" by her that the estate's attorney would maintain communication regarding additional filings with the court. She said the plaintiff never called or emailed her or anyone in her office to say that he was going to file a motion for a default judgment.
The motion to vacate the default judgment was denied, as the trial judge found that none of the attorney's excuses for failing to file a timely answer were legally justified. The wrongful death case eventually settled for $900,000.
In a deposition, the defendant attorney stated she believed she met the standard of care in the wrongful death case. "I think the standard of care allows me to rely on the trustworthiness of an officer of the court," she said, adding that "the litigation process only works when attorneys can trust each other and they act in good faith." Mark Friedman, "Attorney Hit With $800K Judgment in Malpractice Case" www.arkansasbusiness.com (Sep. 22, 2025).
Commentary
The defendant attorney claimed as her defense her reliance on the opposing attorney to notify her of proceedings against her client. Although such cooperation does on occasion happen, it remains the duty of an attorney to stay informed on the status of the case through official channels.
Missing a filing deadline or failing to take action quickly enough is a tough lesson for this attorney. This raises many questions about the firm's calendaring system and offers many lessons to be learned regarding proper calendaring, office procedures, and docketing practices.
However, there is another underlying lesson of which a practitioner should remain aware. Legal practitioners are reminded that there are no statutes of limitation in attorney disciplinary matters. Rule 32 of the American Bar Association Model Rules for Lawyer Disciplinary Enforcement states:
Proceedings under these rules shall be exempt from all statutes of limitation.
The commentary to this rule states, in part:
Statutes of limitation are wholly inappropriate in lawyer disciplinary proceedings. Conduct of a lawyer, no matter when it has occurred, is always relevant to the question of fitness to practice….
Attorneys with an active client list should periodically review every case to determine if any potential issues are being overlooked. Be especially diligent to look for filing deadlines, missed claims, overdue discovery responses, billing issues, or failures to document the progress of the case. Remember, even if it is a case you thought was long gone, professional liability claims arising from these issues may show up years later.
