A Foolish Inconsistency

The Washington Court of Appeals has held that judicial estoppel precludes a legal malpractice suit premised on contentions inconsistent with those offered in a bankruptcy action.

Courts apply the equitable doctrine of judicial estoppel to protect the integrity of the judicial process by precluding a party from gaining an advantage by asserting one position in a court proceeding and later seeking an advantage by taking a clearly inconsistent position. Here, the appellant-debtor knew all of the facts that gave rise to his potential claim of legal malpractice at the time he filed for bankruptcy, yet he failed to disclose it until almost three years after receiving a discharge from the bankruptcy court. While judicial estoppel generally does not apply to the bankruptcy trustee, here no one asked the trial court to substitute the bankruptcy trustee as the real party in interest. The trial court did not abuse its discretion by applying the doctrine of judicial estoppel to bar this legal malpractice claim. We affirm the trial court.

(Mike Frisch)