Pa. High Court Rejects ‘Continuous Representation Rule’ for Legal Malpractice Actions

Jonathan B. Skowron and Keith E. Whitson published an article in The Legal Intelligencer, “Pa. High Court Rejects ‘Continuous Representation Rule’ for Legal Malpractice Actions.”

On Dec. 22, 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court refused to adopt the so-called “continuous representation rule,” a doctrine that tolls the limitations period for a legal malpractice claim until an attorney ceases representing a client. See, Clark v. Stover, No. 2 MAP 2020, 2020 Pa. LEXIS 6489 (Dec. 22, 2020). Although the doctrine has been adopted in some form by many other states, the court held that adopting it in Pennsylvania was the prerogative of the legislature, not the courts, and also hinted that the rule was in any case unnecessary due to other tolling provisions for unknown injuries or fraud.

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