Montana Code Annotated

Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-206 (2026)

Actions For Legal Malpractice

✓ current as of May 2026
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TITLE 27. CIVIL LIABILITY, REMEDIES, AND LIMITATIONS

CHAPTER 2. STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS

Part 2. Time Limits on Specific Kinds of Actions

Actions For Legal Malpractice

27-2-206. Actions for legal malpractice. An action against an attorney licensed to practice law in Montana or a paralegal assistant or a legal intern employed by an attorney based upon the person's alleged professional negligent act or for error or omission in the person's practice must be commenced within 3 years after the plaintiff discovers or through the use of reasonable diligence should have discovered the act, error, or omission, whichever occurs last, but in no case may the action be commenced after 10 years from the date of the act, error, or omission.

History: En. 93-2625 by Sec. 1, Ch. 220, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 93-2625.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 43 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1982–2026 · leading case: Joyce v. Garnaas, 1999 MT 170 (Mont. 1999).
Joyce v. Garnaas, 1999 MT 170 (Mont. 1999). · cites it 56× “" The District Court granted Garnaas's motion, and Garnaas filed an amended answer on March 18, 1997.”
Ereth v. Cascade Cnty., 2003 MT 328 (Mont. 2003). · cites it 18× “¶ 2 The sole issue on appeal is: Did the District Court err in concluding that § 27-2-206, MCA, which provides a three-year statute of limitations for legal malpractice claims, barred Ereth's claim? FACTS ¶ 3 In June 1994, Katie and Andy Schindele reported to the Cascade County…”
Stanley L. & Carolyn M. Watkins Trust v. Lacosta, 2004 MT 144 (Mont. 2004). · cites it 12× “¶38 The statute of limitations for a legal malpractice action provides: An action against an attorney licensed to practice law in Montana or a paralegal assistant or a legal intern employed by an attorney based upon the person's alleged professional negligent act or for error or…”
Uhler v. Doak, 885 P.2d 1297 (Mont. 1994). · cites it 32× “Doak moved for dismissal of the complaint by summary judgment based on his contention that it was barred by the statute of limitations found at § 27-2-206, MCA. The District Court granted Doak's motion and Uhler appeals.”
Erickson v. Croft, 760 P.2d 706 (Mont. 1988). · cites it 21× “Must a cause of action for the breach of an implied contract of employment and conflicts of interest in the context of the attorney/ client relationship be brought within the statutory period prescribed by Montana’s attorney malpractice statute, Section 27-2-206, MCA? The first…”
Burgett v. Flaherty, 663 P.2d 332 (Mont. 1983). · cites it 25× “The collateral estoppel issue need not be reached as the factual allegation to which it applied, malpractice based on entry of an “illegal” dissolution decree, is properly barred by Section 27-2-206, MCA. However, because the record reveals a triable issue of fact as to when…”
Young v. Datsopoulos, 817 P.2d 225 (Mont. 1991). · cites it 42× “based upon the person's alleged professional negligent act or for error or omission in the person's practice must be commenced within 3 years after the plaintiff discovers or through the use of reasonable diligence should have discovered the act, error, or omission, whichever…”
Est. of Watkins v. Hedman, Hileman & Lacosta, 2004 MT 143 (Mont. 2004). · cites it 16× “Section 27-2-206, MCA. The Estate argues that in some circumstances, a plaintiff is not strictly bound by this three-year statute of limitations.”
Schneider v. Leaphart, 743 P.2d 613 (Mont. 1987). · cites it 15× “Schneider failed to file the action within the applicable statute of limitations for attorney malpractice as set forth in Section 27-2-206, MCA. The District Court granted Leaphart’s motion and Dr.”
Guest v. McLaverty, 2006 MT 150 (Mont. 2006). · cites it 11× “, motion to dismiss the complaint based on the statute of limitations found at § 27-2-206, MCA. The District Court granted McLaverty’s motion and Guest now appeals.”
Snyder v. Love, 2006 MT 317 (Mont. 2006). · cites it 15× “¶8 Section 27-2-206, MCA, sets forth the time limits for filing actions alleging legal malpractice.”
Ehrman v. Kaufman, Vidal, Hileman & Ramlow, PC, 2010 MT 284 (Mont. 2010). · cites it 14× “DISCUSSION ¶ 11 Section 27-2-206, MCA, provides the statute of limitations for a legal malpractice action: An action against an attorney licensed to practice law in Montana or a paralegal assistant or a legal intern employed by an attorney based upon the person's alleged…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.