How to sue your lawyer in Tennessee.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(c)(1) provides that actions against attorneys for malpractice shall be commenced within one year after the cause of action accrued, whether grounded in contract or tort. In Tennessee, a legal malpractice lawsuit must be filed within 1 year after the claim accrues, and calling it a breach of contract claim does not extend that deadline.

When the year starts

Tennessee applies the discovery rule, set out in Carvell v. Bottoms (1995) and restated in John Kohl & Co. v. Dearborn & Ewing (1998). In Story v. Bunstine (2017), the Tennessee Supreme Court reaffirmed its two parts:

• Actual injury. You must suffer legally cognizable damage, such as the loss of a legal right, remedy, or interest, the imposition of a liability, or having to incur an expense. An injury that depends on a third party's future actions or is a mere possibility does not count yet.
• Knowledge. You must know, or with reasonable diligence should know, that the injury was caused by the lawyer's wrongful or negligent conduct.

The court also declined to adopt a bright-line rule that injury happens only at final judgment, though on the facts of Story it found no actual injury before the final judgment in the underlying case.

A practical example: if your lawyer failed to file your lawsuit before the deadline and the court dismissed it as time-barred in April 2025, you suffered an actual injury (the loss of a legal right) and, once you learned why, you knew the lawyer caused it. Your one year would likely run out in April 2026, even if the same lawyer was still promising to appeal or fix it.

No continuous representation or appeal tolling

In Story v. Bunstine (2017), the Tennessee Supreme Court declined to adopt either the continuous representation rule or appeal tolling for legal malpractice claims. The court put it bluntly: a client who learns of a cognizable injury caused by the lawyer, but keeps that lawyer, will be barred unless suit is filed within one year. Tennessee has no separate statute of repose for lawyers. See the national comparison on our statute of limitations page and my lawyer missed a deadline, what now.

The Tennessee Supreme Court lists five elements in Gibson v. Trant (2001): (1) the attorney owed you a duty, (2) the attorney breached that duty, (3) you suffered damages, (4) the breach was the cause in fact of your damages, and (5) the negligence was the proximate, or legal, cause of your damages. For litigation mistakes, that means proving the case within a case. Losing, or a reasonable tactical call that did not work, is not malpractice; see what is not legal malpractice.

Expert testimony

In Tennessee, expert testimony is required to establish negligence and proximate cause in a legal malpractice case unless the alleged malpractice is within the common knowledge of laypeople. In Bursack v. Wilson (Tenn. Ct. App. 1998), a client challenged his lawyer's tactical decision to let a default judgment be entered; the lawyer filed his own affidavit saying he met the standard of care, the client filed no expert witness affidavit in response, and summary judgment for the lawyer was affirmed. Tennessee does not require a certificate of merit to file a legal malpractice case, but you should expect to need an expert to survive summary judgment. See our expert witness guide.

Tennessee follows the exoneration rule. In Gibson v. Trant (2001), the Tennessee Supreme Court held that a plaintiff must obtain post-conviction relief in order to maintain a legal malpractice claim against his criminal defense lawyers. The court left open whether the plaintiff must also prove actual innocence.

The catch is timing. The court held that a criminal defendant can "discover" the claim before post-conviction relief is granted, so the one-year clock may run while post-conviction proceedings are still pending. A malpractice suit filed before that relief can be allowed to proceed at the trial court's discretion, but the court must await the post-conviction outcome before the case goes to a jury. In practice, that often means filing within a year and asking the court to wait. See criminal defense malpractice and ineffective assistance vs. legal malpractice.

Tennessee has no single statewide fee arbitration program for clients; local bars run their own. The Memphis Bar Association's Legal Fee Dispute Committee offers free arbitration before a three-attorney panel, and if both the client and the lawyer agree to arbitrate, the panel's decision is binding. The Knoxville Bar Association's Fee Dispute Resolution Committee covers lawyers practicing in Knoxville and contiguous counties, at no cost, and issues non-binding decisions after an informal hearing. Check with the bar association where your lawyer practices. Our fee arbitration guide covers how to prepare.

For stolen money, Tennessee's client protection fund is the Tennessee Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection. It reimburses theft of money or property by a Tennessee-licensed lawyer during an attorney-client relationship. The Tennessee Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection pays no more than $100,000 to a single claimant, and claims for losses on or after October 1, 2013 must be filed within 3 years of the loss, with a 5-year outside limit. It does not cover malpractice, fee disputes, interest, or pain and suffering. See how client protection funds work.

Tennessee does not require lawyers to carry malpractice insurance, so ask your lawyer directly. See does your lawyer have malpractice insurance.

The Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee handles lawyer discipline. Its Consumer Assistance Program acts as a central intake point for calls and letters and can resolve many problems informally, such as a lawyer who will not return calls, before a formal complaint is needed. For possible ethics violations you can file a complaint with the Board.

A bar grievance can lead to discipline, but it is not a substitute for a malpractice lawsuit: it will not award damages, and it does not pause Tennessee's one-year clock. Read legal malpractice vs. a bar complaint.

1. Assume the year is already running. If you know something went wrong and it cost you, the clock has likely started.
2. Do not wait for the lawyer to fix it or for an appeal. Tennessee tolls for neither.
3. Get your file (here is how) and line up an expert.
4. If you were convicted, talk to a lawyer about filing within the year while post-conviction relief is pending.

If you think your lawyer's mistake cost you, a free case review takes about two minutes and can connect you with an independent attorney in Tennessee who handles legal malpractice claims.