A Wisconsin plaintiff's legal malpractice action against his former criminal defense attorney was shot down by the Wisconsin Supreme Court because he could not prove his innocence, as required by the "actual innocence rule." The plaintiff claimed his lawyer was negligent for not raising a statute of limitations defense, which would have barred the criminal charges against him entirely—despite his culpability. However, since he could not prove his innocence—and because the Court found there was no exception to the Rule under these circumstances—he could not proceed with his legal malpractice action.
Complete SummaryThe "actual innocence rule" (Rule) generally requires a criminal defendant to establish his or her innocence in order to prevail in a legal malpractice action against their former defense attorney in connection to the underlying criminal case. The Rule is premised on the idea that "attorney error does not negate a guilty defendant's culpability." Recently, the Wisconsin Supreme Court strictly enforced the Rule, finding there were no exceptions for a particular plaintiff.
Here, the plaintiff sued his former criminal defense attorney for legal malpractice because the attorney failed to raise...
