O’Donnell v. Smith, 197 S.W.3d 394 (2006).
One of the issues in this case involved whether an estate’s personal
representative can sue the decedent’s former attorneys for malpractice
in advising the decedent in his capacity as the executor of his wife’s
estate. The lower court ruled in favor of attorneys basing its judgment
on the fact that the decedent’s executor and the estate lacked privity
of contract with the attorneys.
The Supreme Court of Texas granted a petition for review without
reference to the merits, vacated the lower court’s judgment, and
remanded so the lower court could take into account the holding in Belt
v. Oppenheimer, Blend, Harrison & Tate, Inc., 49 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 598
(Tex. 2006).
Moral: The Belt holding will be applied retroactively to causes of
action that accrued and decisions rendered prior to the date of the
Supreme Court’s decision. Thus, many actions thought to be concluded and
subject to res judicata may be reopened.