On August 30, 1988, appellee/client Harrington filed suit against appellant/attorney Royal, alleging legal malpractice. We granted appellant’s application for interlocutory review of the trial court’s denial of appellant’s motion to dismiss, which was based on the expiration of the period of limitation. In his complaint, appellee averred that he had hired appellant to represent him in the sale of his business and
“It has long been the law in this state that a cause of action for legal malpractice, alleging
negligence or unskillfullness,
sounds in
contract
(agency) and, in the case of an oral agreement, is subject to the four-year statute of limitation in OCGA § 9-3-25. (Cits.)”
Ballard v. Frey,
“ ‘(A)n action for attorney malpractice accrues and the period of limitations begins to run, from the date of the attorney’s breach of duty, that is, from the date of the alleged negligent or unskillful act.’ [Cit.]” Loftin v. Brown, supra, Div. 1. Inasmuch as appellee alleged that appellant was negligent on September 14, 1984, the date the financing statement was allegedly misfiled, and the lawsuit was filed on August 30, 1988, within four years of the date of the alleged negligent or unskillful act, the trial court did not err in denying appellant’s motion to dismiss.
Judgment affirmed.
