We can’t read the case, and a subscription to the Minnesota lawyer site is required, but third-hand, here is an interesting take on a legal malpractice case from the Minnesota Lawyer Blog.

"Minnesota Lawyer has an interesting story this week about a local attorney who found himself being sued for malpractice in Kentucky by a woman who claimed that she was his client.  The woman was mulling filing a medical-malpractice suit against the decedent’s health-care providers, and for reasons that are unclear contacted the Minnesota attorney. She filed out his retainer agreement and returned it, but the two had no further contact. The attorney officially declined the case in a letter sent several months later, shortly after the expiration of the applicable Kentucky statute of limitations on the estate’s med-mal claim.

Minnesota Lawyer Blog’s take on the case is puzzlement.  "In the meantime, you may want to be careful about whom you give a copy of your retainer agreement to … "

A different take?  Attorney is retained to handle a medical malpractice case, and a written retainer is signed by the client.  Attorney holds onto the case until the statue of limitations has passed and then tells the client that he is not interested in the case.  Attorney may not have know of Kentucky’s statute of limitations, but he has allowed the statute to pass.