CA1: discovery rule in legal malpractice

Feddersen v. Garvey, No. 05-1305, affirms a grant of summary judgment in a legal malpractice (under New Hampshire law) action on statute of limitations grounds.  State law provides that malpractice actions must be brought within five years.   N.H. R.S.A. § 508:4.  The underlying case involves a divorce which ended up costing the plaintiff some of his company.  “Feddersen contends that, given the defendants' assurances that they had done nothing wrong, it was "reasonable" for him to believe that his legal expenses were caused "by a very motivated ex-wife" rather than by the defendants' malpractice, until a court ruled in Cannon's favor. This argument reflects both misapprehension of the applicable standard and disingenuousness.  “he court under his theory he would have become aware of the malpractice when an angry ex-wife brought some proceedings to take his company, and not when those proceedings were concluded.