Larson & Larson, P.A. v. TSE Industries

Larson & Larson, P.A. (Larson) (plaintiff) represented TSE Industries (TSE) (defendant) in a patent-infringement claim against Franklynn Industries, Inc. (Franklynn) in federal district court. After a jury trial, the court ruled for Franklynn, holding that TSE’s patent was invalid. The jury verdict was rendered final in September 2002. Franklynn filed a post-judgment motion for sanctions and attorney’s fees against TSE. The trial court granted Franklynn’s motion, holding that TSE failed to disclose known issues regarding the validity of its patent. TSE and Franklynn settled on the amount TSE would pay Franklynn and entered a stipulation dismissing Franklynn’s fee-and-sanctions claim on October 10, 2002. On October 5, 2004, TSE sued Larson for legal malpractice, arguing that Larson’s negligence caused TSE to incur unnecessary costs (1) in the underlying patent-infringement litigation; and (2) to settle Franklynn’s fees-and-sanctions claim. Larson moved for summary judgment, arguing that TSE’s claim was time-barred by the applicable two-year statute of limitations because the final judgment in the patent-infringement litigation was entered in September 2002. The trial court agreed and dismissed TSE’s claim. On appeal, the appellate court reversed, holding that TSE’s claim was timely because the statute of limitations did not start to run until TSE and Franklynn settled Franklynn’s fees-and-sanctions claim and filed the associated stipulation of dismissal on October 10, 2002. Larson appealed.