Statute of Limitations in Texas Legal Malpractice Claims: When Does the Clock Start?
Legal Malpractice
When a prior lawyer’s error costs you a case, a settlement, or a business opportunity, the most urgent question is often when the clock begins running on your right to sue that lawyer. Because timing can decide whether a strong case survives or is dismissed on limitations, many clients turn early to the top-rated Texas legal malpractice lawyers at The Kassab Law Firm for a detailed timeline review before any deadline passes. In practical terms, Texas law does not use a one-size-fits-all starting date. The sections below walk through the most common situations that trigger the statute of limitations in legal malpractice cases so you can see which timing rule is most likely to apply to your circumstances.
When You First Learn About The Mistake
The statute of limitations starts when they first realize something is wrong. Texas applies the discovery rule to legal malpractice, so a claim generally accrues when you discover, or reasonably should have discovered, both the error and the fact that it caused you harm.
That “discovery” can come through many channels: a legal malpractice attorney reviewing your file, a letter from a court, a denial of a claim you thought was pending, or a document that shows a filing deadline was missed. The two-year period under § 16.003 then runs forward from that point for negligence-based malpractice claims.
Because courts also ask what a reasonably diligent client should have learned, not only what you actually knew, clients often work with Texas legal malpractice attorneys to reconstruct emails, status letters, billing entries, and pleadings. That reconstruction helps show when discovery truly occurred and counters defense arguments that the clock started earlier.
If you have recently uncovered a serious error by former counsel, legal malpractice lawyers in Houston, TX can assess whether your discovery date still leaves time to file and how to preserve evidence quickly.
When Your Case Is Dismissed Or A Critical Deadline Is Missed
Sometimes the injury is obvious: a court dismisses your lawsuit for want of prosecution, a limitations deadline passes on the underlying claim, or a dispositive motion is granted because key evidence was never offered. In those situations, a Texas court may treat the date of dismissal or final order as the point when a reasonable client would recognize potential malpractice.
When a prior lawyer allows the statute of limitations to expire on an underlying personal injury or business claim, the loss of that case is the legal injury. The two-year period for suing that lawyer often runs from the date the underlying claim became time-barred or from the date you reasonably learned that nothing more could be filed.
Because the defense will scrutinize every date on the docket sheet, clients in Texas often ask a Houston legal malpractice attorney to align court records, correspondence, and internal notes with the statutory clock and to evaluate whether a two-year or four-year period may apply based on the theories pled.
When The Underlying Lawsuit And Appeals Are Over
When malpractice occurs inside litigation—botched trial strategy, missed appellate deadlines, mishandled motions—the Texas Supreme Court applies the Hughes tolling rule. In Hughes v. Mahaney & Higgins, the Court held that the statute of limitations on a legal malpractice claim is tolled while the underlying case, including appeals, is pending.
That means the two-year limitations period does not begin until all appeals in which you participate in the underlying matter are exhausted. More recent decisions clarify that tolling ends once the claimant’s own appeals are done, even if a co-party continues seeking review, such as a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court.
For clients whose disputes moved from trial court to the court of appeals and then to the Supreme Court of Texas, legal malpractice attorneys need to track:
- The date of each notice of appeal and judgment
- The date each appellate court ruled
- The date the last motion for rehearing or petition was denied
Only then can a legal malpractice attorney determine precisely when Hughes tolling ended and the two-year limitations clock began.
When Malpractice In Transactions Or Deals Comes To Light
Not all malpractice happens in a courtroom. Many claims arise from contract drafting, corporate deals, real estate closings, or settlement agreements that quietly strip away rights. In transactional legal malpractice, Hughes tolling does not apply because there is no underlying litigation to finish. Accrual instead turns on when the client suffers a legal injury and, under the discovery rule, when that injury is or should be discovered.
For example, a business might not realize that an indemnity clause or limitations provision was drafted against its interests until a dispute arises years later. If the claim is framed as professional negligence, the two-year statute under § 16.003 typically governs; if the evidence supports fraud or breach of fiduciary duty, the four-year period under § 16.004 may apply.
When Misconduct Is Hidden From You
In some cases, clients do not discover malpractice because the lawyer actively hides it—failing to disclose a dismissal, misrepresenting a settlement, or assuring the client a case is “moving forward” when it has already been lost. Texas recognizes fraudulent concealment, an equitable doctrine that suspends limitations when a defendant’s own conduct prevents timely discovery of a claim.
Fraudulent concealment does not give unlimited time. Courts hold that tolling lasts only until the client actually discovers the wrong or should have discovered it through reasonable diligence. Once facts surface that would cause a prudent person to investigate, the statute resumes and the client must act.
Texas Legal Malpractice Lawyers Beating The Clock
Statutes of limitations in legal malpractice cases are strict, but discovery, tolling, and concealment doctrines can all shift when the clock starts—and The Kassab Law Firm uses those rules every day to protect clients’ claims statewide. If you suspect a former lawyer’s negligence or conflicts have cost you money or rights, the most decisive move is a focused review by Texas legal malpractice lawyers, contact us today to put a time-driven strategy in motion.