Texas PJC Malpractice 2022

PJC 61.10

N ONMEDICAL M ALPRACTICE —T HEORIES OF R ECOVERY

PJC 61.10

Liability of Attorneys under Deceptive Trade Practices Act (Comment)

Attorneys may incur liability under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices–Consumer Protection Act, Tex. Bus. & Com. Code §§ 17.41–.63 (“DTPA”). See Latham v. Cas tillo , 972 S.W.2d 66 (Tex. 1998); DeBakey v. Staggs , 605 S.W.2d 631 (Tex. App.— Houston [1st Dist.] 1980), writ ref’d n.r.e. per curiam , 612 S.W.2d 924 (Tex. 1981). Certain professional services (“the essence of which is the providing of advice, judgment, opinion, or similar professional skill”) are exempted from DTPA coverage. The exemption does not shield attorneys from liability for acts that cannot be charac terized as advice, judgment, or opinion and are (1) express misrepresentations of mate rial facts, (2) failures to disclose information known at the time of the transaction if the failure to disclose was intended to induce the consumer into a transaction the con sumer otherwise would not have entered, (3) unconscionable actions or courses of action, or (4) breaches of an express warranty. Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 17.49(c). See the current edition of State Bar of Texas, Texas Pattern Jury Charges—Busi ness, Consumer, Insurance & Employment for questions, instructions, and comments to be used in a case applying the DTPA.

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