Bennett v. Hill-Boren, P.C.

In 1998, the mother of Mattie Bennett (plaintiff) and Dorothy Washington was moved from a nursing home to Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center (NMRMC) for medical care. NMRMC negligently caused a new medical issue that led to the mother’s death. Bennett and Washington hired Tennessee attorney T. Robert Hill (defendant) to bring a wrongful-death claim. Hill hired Leonard Melvin (defendant) as local Mississippi counsel. In August 2000, Melvin filed a Mississippi lawsuit against both the nursing home and NMRMC. Melvin tried to serve both defendants. The process server notified Melvin that NMRMC’s service was defective due to a naming issue, but Melvin did not notify Hill or do anything to correct the issue. At most, Melvin told Washington they were having difficulty serving one defendant. In November 2001, Washington fired Melvin over other issues. Melvin acknowledged the termination but never formally withdrew from the lawsuit. Hill hired a new Mississippi attorney, who discovered that NMRMC had never been served. By then, it was too late to make NMRMC a defendant, and there was no evidence the nursing home had done anything wrong. Hill recognized this was serious but told Washington only that there was difficulty serving a defendant. Hill prolonged the case for two more years before telling Washington and Bennett there was no way to win and recommending dismissal. In April 2005, Washington and Bennett fired Hill and hired new counsel. Only then did Bennett learn that NMRMC had never been served. In October 2005, Hill and Melvin finally withdrew from the wrongful-death lawsuit, and the court dismissed the case. In October 2007, Bennett sued Hill and Melvin for legal malpractice in Mississippi state court. Melvin moved for summary judgment, arguing the claim was barred by the three-year statute of limitations for legal-malpractice claims. Melvin claimed the continuous-representation rule applied, so the three-year clock had started when Melvin had last represented Bennett in 2001. Bennett argued the discovery rule applied, so the three-year clock had started in April 2005 when her new attorney revealed Melvin’s negligence and Hill’s cover-up. The trial court entered judgment for Melvin. Bennett appealed.