Opinion ID: 2794605
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: hvb

Text: On the other hand, HVB argues that Plaintiffs’ claims are time-barred because they accrued no later than December 5, 2001, when Plaintiffs incurred part of the damages they seek to recover. By their own admission in the complaint, Plaintiffs first suffered actual injury in 2001 when they paid “unconscionable fees” for a long-term CARDS loan that HVB terminated prematurely. This early termination deprived Plaintiffs of the long-term financing they sought to increase M&S’s bonding capacity, which was the legitimate “business purpose” they alleged under oath to the tax court. Under Florida’s settled “first injury” rule, Plaintiffs’ claims accrued in 2001, when they first suffered injury that was neither hypothetical nor speculative. HVB contends that Peat, Marwick, an accountant malpractice case, is expressly limited to claims for professional malpractice. Plaintiffs here did not— and could not—assert any malpractice claims against HVB, which are subject to Florida’s two-year statute of limitations (rather than the four- and five-year periods applicable to Plaintiffs’ claims). Courts have never applied the malpractice accrual rule announced in Peat, Marwick outside of the malpractice context, and there is no 23 Case: 14-11959 Date Filed: 04/17/2015 Page: 24 of 25 legal or logical basis for the unprecedented expansion of Florida law sought by Plaintiffs. HVB argues that the policy concerns behind Peat, Marwick are inapplicable here. In a malpractice action like Peat, Marwick, the existence of an injury is speculative until the entry of a final judgment adverse to the client, because only then can one determine if the professional committed any actionable error. In contrast, the existence of the injury Plaintiffs alleged they suffered in 2001 was not contingent on the outcome of the tax court case. Plaintiffs would not be required to take directly contrary positions, as they acknowledge that HVB’s admitted conduct was not dispositive of their tax liability. Furthermore, this case does not implicate the policy concern of protecting client–professional relationships from needless lawsuits. Plaintiffs’ argument that the district court adopted a “defendant-bydefendant” accrual rule mischaracterizes the district court’s order, which had no occasion to consider when claims accrued against non-existent other defendants. The argument also relies on the faulty premise that Peat, Marwick applies to Plaintiffs’ claims, which it does not. To the extent it remains viable, the supposed “bright-line” rule referred to by Plaintiffs has never been applied to a nonmalpractice claim.