Do Not Fracture

In African Contract Solutions, Inc. v. Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, LLP, the Fifth Court applied Texas’s anti-fracturing rule to affirm the Rule 91a dismissal of breach-of-fiduciary-duty and fraud claims against a law firm and its individual lawyer. The court held that the gravamen of the suit was legal malpractice and that the claims were therefore subject to — and barred by — the two-year statute of limitations applicable to professional-negligence claims:

[T[he crux of appellants’ complaint is that appellees’ representation of GSGS was deficient because of the conflict of interest in advising Sturm or placing Sturm’s interests over the interests of GSGS, i.e. appellees failed to advise GSGS of Sturm’s adverse actions, which negatively affected GSGS. The allegations involve the question of whether appellees failed to exercise the degree of care, skill, or diligence in performing their duty to inform their client (the company) under professional conduct rules about issues concerning the company’s allegedly rogue president, who hired appellees to represent the company.

. The opinion follows the Texas Supreme Court’s recent guidance in Pitts v. Rivas, 709 S.W.3d 517 (Tex. 2025), and reaffirms that the anti-fracturing rule blocks plaintiffs from recharacterizing a malpractice claim “in order to obtain a litigation benefit like a longer statute of limitations.” No. 05-24-01244-CV (May 11, 2026).