Berwald

Plaintiff law firm sued its former clients for “damages for legal services rendered.” Plaintiff appeals from a judgment of dismissal entered after the trial court sustained defendants’ demurrer to the complaint on statute of limitations grounds and denied plaintiff’s motion for reconsideration based on newly discovered evidence. The principal issues on appeal are whether the complaint and exhibits thereto revealed the common counts alleged therein were barred by the applicable statutes of limitation, and whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying the motion for reconsideration to permit plaintiff to plead an alleged newly discovered promissory note.

Procedural Background

On May 12, 1998, plaintiff filed a verified complaint containing two common counts, one for “money damages for services rendered,” and one for an account stated. According to the allegations of the complaint, plaintiff represented defendants in two underlying lawsuits from July 1988 to May 1992. On May 13, 1992, plaintiff prepared a promissory note for the alleged agreed balance due for legal services. The promissory note attached as an exhibit to the complaint is executed by plaintiff and…