Mississippi Valley Title Insurance Company v. J. Garrison Thompson, 754 F.3d 1330

Thompson, an Alabama-licensed attorney, contracted in 2000 as an attorney agent to issue title insurance commitments/policies for Mississippi Valley.
Thompson performed title searches, analyzed title documents, formed unwritten opinions on title status, and issued commitments/policies based on those opinions.
Mississippi Valley discovered omissions (1997 mortgage, 2001 mortgage) that Thompson failed to exclude from coverages in 2001 and 2003 policies.
Mississippi Valley filed a diversity suit in 2011 alleging Thompson’s actions caused damages; the events occurred in 2001 and 2003, beyond four years.
The district court held the Alabama statute of limitations (Ala. Code § 6–5–574) did not apply; Thompson appealed.
The Eleventh Circuit certified to the Alabama Supreme Court the unsettled question of whether an attorney agent provides a legal service under § 6–5–574 when performing unwritten title opinions leading to insurance.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Does an attorney agent provide a ‘legal service’ under § 6–5–574 when he forms an unwritten title opinion and issues insurance based on it?	Mississippi Valley	Thompson	Question certified; unresolved state-law issue; court declines ruling on it.

Land Title Ins. Co. of Ala. v. State ex rel. Porter, 299 So. 2d 289 (Ala. 1974) (non-attorney agents could review title records; not unauthorized practice of law)
Upton v. Mississippi Valley Title Ins. Co., 469 So. 2d 548 (Ala. 1985) (non-lawyer could render title opinion before insurance; narrow reading of Land Title)
Mississippi Valley Title Ins. Co. v. Hooper, 707 So. 2d 209 (Ala. 1997) (attorney agent provided a legal service when writing title opinions and issuing policies)
Cunningham v. Langston, Frazer, Sweet & Freese, P.A., 727 So. 2d 800 (Ala. 1999) (defines ‘legal service’ as originating from receipt of legal services; sharpens scope for § 6–5–574)