George V Montgomery Clark Case Summary

One of the ways to toll the statute of limitations for legal malpractice actions is that the attorney(s) against whom the claim(s) is alleged serve as counsel for the plaintiff on the same subject matter within which the wrongful act or omission occurred. This would seem to require privity between plaintiff and the attorney(s). However, this is not the case when it comes to trustees who are represented in their capacity as fiduciaries.
FACTS
In 1999, Beverly Clark (Beverly) established a trust in her name. Beverly served as the trustee of her trust until she died in 2002, when her brother-in-law, George Clark (George), became the trustee. George served as the trustee until 2008 when he resigned.
Although the Trust Agreement designated James
The court went on to note that while legal malpractice suits typically require privity between the plaintiff and the defendant(s), this is not the case with trustees under California law. Rather, when a successor trustee replaces a predecessor trustee, the successor trustee acquires all the rights and powers of the predecessor, including the right to sue attorneys hired by the predecessor trustee for malpractice. In fact, all successor trustees step into the shows of their predecessor trustees and inherit the same rights, duties and
This is because successor trustees step into the shoes of predecessor trustees and inherit all the rights, duties and responsibilities of a trustee, which are not personal to any one