Attorneys » Statute of Limitations on Legal Malpractice Claims in Utah

In Schwinn v. Cook, 2004 UT App 372, the Utah Court of Appeals addressed the applicable statute of limitations for legal malpractice cases filed in the state. The court referred to Utah Code Annotated § 78-12-25(1) which imposes a four-year limitation on several actions, including legal malpractice claims. Subsequent to the court's ruling that section was repealed and renumbered as Utah Code Annotated § 78B-2-307 (2008). Presumably, legal malpractice falls within the ambit of the catch-all wording of subsection (3) which reads: "for relief not otherwise provided for by law."

The Schwinn court also favorably cited Merkley v. Beaslin, 778 P.2d 16, 18 (Utah Ct.App.1989) which found that "a cause of action for legal malpractice accrues, and the four-year statute of limitations commences to run, when the act complained of is discovered or, in the exercise of reasonable care, should have been discovered." Merkley, 778 P.2d 19; see also Williams v. Howard, 970 P.2d 1282, 1284 (Utah 1998).