How to sue your lawyer in Texas.

Texas treats legal malpractice as a negligence claim, and negligence claims carry the two-year statute of limitations in Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a). The Texas Supreme Court applied that period to legal malpractice in Apex Towing Co. v. Tolin, 41 S.W.3d 118 (Tex. 2001).

In Texas, a legal malpractice claim must usually be filed within 2 years after the client suffers a legal injury or discovers, or should have discovered, the facts of the claim. That rule comes from Hughes v. Mahaney & Higgins, 821 S.W.2d 154 (Tex. 1991).

The Hughes tolling rule

Hughes also created the rule Texas lawyers know best: when a lawyer commits malpractice in the prosecution or defense of a claim that results in litigation, the malpractice deadline is tolled until all appeals on the underlying claim are exhausted. The idea is that a client should not have to sue the lawyer while that lawyer is still fighting the same case, or take inconsistent positions in two lawsuits at once. In Apex Towing, the court called this a bright-line rule that applies whether or not the client kept the same lawyer for the appeal.

The rule is narrow. In Erikson v. Renda, 590 S.W.3d 557 (Tex. 2019), the Texas Supreme Court refused to apply Hughes tolling to advice that was only incidentally connected to litigation, and dismissed the claim as late. If your lawyer's mistake was in a deal, a will, or general advice that never became part of a lawsuit, do not count on Hughes.

No general continuous representation rule and no repose

Texas courts have not adopted a broad continuous representation doctrine that pauses the clock just because the same lawyer keeps working for you; Hughes is the Texas version, and it is limited to litigation. Texas has no separate statute of repose for lawyer malpractice, so there is no fixed outer cap. For how Texas compares to other states, see the 50-state deadline table.

Texas courts describe a legal malpractice claim as ordinary negligence: the lawyer owed you a duty, breached it, the breach proximately caused your injury, and you suffered damages. The duty is measured by the standard of care of a reasonably prudent attorney.

When the mistake happened in a lawsuit, you normally have to prove the case within a case: that you would have won, or won more, if the lawyer had done the job right. Our case-within-a-case guide walks through how that works.

In Texas, expert testimony is generally required to prove that a lawyer's trial decisions caused a client's loss, because those choices are beyond a jury's common understanding. The Texas Supreme Court said so in Alexander v. Turtur & Associates, Inc., 146 S.W.3d 113 (Tex. 2004), where a malpractice verdict was reversed for lack of expert causation evidence. Expect to need an expert witness on both breach and causation in most cases.

Texas does not require a certificate of merit when you file a legal malpractice suit. That makes filing simpler, but it does not lower the proof you need at trial or at summary judgment.

Texas has one of the strictest rules for suing a criminal defense lawyer. In Peeler v. Hughes & Luce, 909 S.W.2d 494 (Tex. 1995), the Texas Supreme Court held that a convicted client's own conduct is treated as the sole cause of the conviction unless the conviction has been overturned. In Texas, a convicted client generally cannot sue a criminal defense lawyer for malpractice unless the client has been exonerated on direct appeal, through post-conviction relief, or otherwise.

In Gray v. Skelton (Tex. 2020), the court held that a client whose conviction was vacated could bring the claim, but must still prove innocence in the malpractice case, and that Hughes tolling covers post-conviction proceedings until the conviction is vacated. See our page on criminal defense malpractice.

Many complaints about Texas lawyers are really about money, and a malpractice lawsuit is usually the wrong tool for those.

Fee disputes

The State Bar of Texas does not arbitrate fee disputes, and its grievance process cannot resolve arguments over the amount of a bill. Instead, it refers clients to local bar associations with fee dispute committees (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and others) or to regional dispute resolution centers. Texas fee dispute programs are voluntary, so your lawyer has to agree to take part. The Houston Bar Association, for example, uses panels of lawyers and non-lawyers and charges nothing. See our guide to fee dispute arbitration.

The Client Security Fund

If your lawyer stole your money or kept an unearned fee, the State Bar's Client Security Fund may reimburse part of the loss. The Texas fund rules the State Bar published in 2019 capped grants at $40,000 per applicant; confirm the current limit with the fund before you apply. In most cases you must first file a grievance that results in a finding of theft or failure to refund, then apply within 18 months after the final disciplinary judgment. Grants are discretionary. Our guide to getting money back from a client protection fund explains the process.

Grievances against Texas lawyers go to the State Bar of Texas Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel, which accepts them online. A bar grievance can lead to a private reprimand, public reprimand, suspension, or disbarment.

A Texas grievance can discipline a lawyer, but it cannot award you damages for a lost case. Only a civil lawsuit or settlement can do that. A grievance can still matter: it is the gateway to the Client Security Fund, and the findings may help you understand what happened. The State Bar's Client-Attorney Assistance Program (800-932-1900) also helps with smaller communication problems. For the differences, read malpractice lawsuit vs. bar complaint.

Texas does not require lawyers to carry malpractice insurance, and in 2010 the Texas Supreme Court declined to require lawyers to disclose whether they have it. Ask your lawyer directly; see does your lawyer have malpractice insurance.

Write down the date you first learned of the mistake and the dates of any appeals in the underlying case, since those decide your Texas deadline. Request your client file in writing (see how to get your case file). Separate fee complaints from malpractice complaints, and use the local fee dispute committee or Client Security Fund where they fit.

1. Write a one-page timeline: when you hired the lawyer, what went wrong, when you learned of it, and when the lawyer stopped working on the matter.
2. Collect the engagement letter, bills, emails, texts, and court papers. Do not rely on the lawyer to keep them for you.
3. Separate money problems from outcome problems. A dispute over the bill or missing funds may belong with the local bar fee dispute committee or the Client Security Fund, not in a lawsuit.
4. Estimate what the mistake actually cost you. A malpractice case has to prove real, measurable loss, and it must be worth the cost of experts.
5. Talk to an independent attorney who handles legal malpractice claims in Texas well before the two years run out. Many take these cases on a contingency fee; see do legal malpractice lawyers work on contingency.

Then talk to an independent attorney who handles legal malpractice claims in Texas before the two years run. If you think your lawyer's mistake cost you, a free case review takes about two minutes.