[Download] "Delta Automatic Systems, Inc. v. Bingham" by New Mexico Court of Appeals # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Delta Automatic Systems, Inc. v. Bingham
- Author : New Mexico Court of Appeals
- Release Date : January 10, 1998
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 69 KB
Description
Certiorari denied, No. 25,576, February 17, 1999 APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF BERNALILLO COUNTY Jerald A. Valentine, District Judge OPINION {1} Diane and Paul J. Quintana were the sole shareholders and officers of Delta Automatic Systems, Inc. (Delta), when Delta hired attorney Wayne E. Bingham to help it terminate its contract with Road Sprinkler Fitters Local Union No. 669 (the Union). Delta and the Quintanas (Plaintiffs) later sued Bingham and his law firm-Crider, Calvert & Bingham, P.C. (the Bingham Firm)-claiming that Bingham failed to take the action necessary to terminate the union contract. Before trial the district court dismissed the Quintanas' individual claims on the ground that only Delta had a cause of action. After Delta rested its case at trial, the district court granted Bingham and the Bingham Firm (Defendants) a directed verdict based on the statute of limitations. Plaintiffs appeal. We affirm. {2} The district court properly dismissed the Quintanas' claim because they do not come within any exception to the general rule that shareholders have no cause of action against third parties for injury to their corporation. Our affirmance of the directed verdict against Delta rests on the proposition that the limitations period for professional malpractice commences when the client knew or should have known the facts that form the basis for the claim, regardless of whether the client appreciated that the professional's conduct constituted malpractice.