Opinion ID: 201884
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Inconsistent Positions in Litigation

Text: 25 Feddersen argues that the district court's ruling placed [him] in the untenable position of having to file a malpractice action against his former attorney [at a time when doing so would have] compromise[d] his ability to defend the underlying case brought by Cannon. There are cases in other jurisdictions that support this argument. See Clark v. Deloitte & Touche LLP, 34 P.3d 209, 217-18 (Utah 2001) (allowing tolling of malpractice action against accountant until conclusion of underlying litigation); Hughes v. Mahaney & Higgins, 821 S.W.2d 154, 157 (Tex.1991) (same). There are also cases that reject it. See Carvell v. Bottoms, 900 S.W.2d 23, 29-30 (Tenn.1995) and cases cited therein. 26 We view Feddersen's contention as again foreclosed by the New Hampshire authorities. In at least two cases, the New Hampshire Supreme Court has refused to toll the statute of limitations in a professional liability action while the plaintiff-client sought to defend the professional's advice in collateral litigation. In Draper v. Brennan, 142 N.H. 780, 713 A.2d 373 (1998), the New Hampshire Supreme Court rejected the reasoning in Hughes and the proposition that a plaintiff should be able to postpone a legal malpractice action until the conclusion of an appeal in the underlying litigation. Id. at 377-78. In Pichowicz, the New Hampshire Supreme Court refused to toll the statute of limitations in a professional malpractice suit (against an insurance agent) until the conclusion of trial on the underlying claim. 768 A.2d at 1049. To the extent that Feddersen seeks to limit or challenge these holdings, he has chosen the wrong forum. 27 Moreover, we do not think that Feddersen would have been injured by commencing his malpractice action while Cannon's suit against him was pending. If Feddersen had brought suit against the defendants in 1999, he could have asked the district court to hold the action in repose until the conclusion of the Cannon case. We think it likely that the court would have granted the motion. See Currie v. Group Ins. Comm'n, 290 F.3d 1, 9-13 (1st Cir.2002) (discussing doctrines pursuant to which federal courts may stay cases pending outcome of related state court litigation raising complex issue of state law). See also Morrison v. Goff, 91 P.3d 1050, 1055-58 (Colo.2004) (collecting cases and adopting two-track approach, by which malpractice action is filed during pendency of underlying litigation and then stayed until resolution of the underlying case). We also think it likely that Feddersen could have resisted any effort by Cannon to use the existence of a malpractice suit against him in her underlying case. Feddersen has not suggested how evidence of the malpractice suit could have been introduced at trial on Cannon's claim, nor why the judge hearing the matter would have held any such evidence against him. See Carvell, 900 S.W.2d at 30 (holding that judicial estoppel doctrine did not apply when malpractice action was filed during pendency of related litigation).