CMW attorneys Katherine Elrich and Price Anderson successfully petitioned the Texas Supreme Court for review in Pitts v. Rivas, No. 23-0427, — S.W.3d —, 2025 WL 568114 (Tex. Feb. 21, 2025).

On February 21, 2025, the Texas Supreme Court reversed the Dallas Court of Appeals in part and rendered a take-nothing judgment on all claims in favor of CMW’s clients, two certified public accountants and their accounting firm.

The Court’s majority opinion delivered by Chief Justice Blacklock applied the “anti-fracturing” rule to a fraud claim, holding that the gravamen of the asserted claim was nothing more than a straightforward accounting malpractice action which had not been timely pursued. The opinion marks the first time the Texas Supreme Court has fully addressed the anti-fracturing rule in professional negligence claims, building upon the rule’s application  by several courts of appeals across Texas.

The supreme court majority did not reach the question of whether to apply the anti-fracturing rule to a breach of fiduciary duty claim, holding instead that the rule did not need to be applied where there was no evidence of the existence of a fiduciary duty.  In a concurring opinion, four justices  announced that they would bar fiduciary duty claims premised only on informal relationships and instead would limit such claims to situations in which the defendant had assumed a role that Texas law recognizes as fiduciary in nature.

CMW lawyers Katherine Elrich and Price Anderson represented the accountants in the Texas Supreme Court. Katherine Elrich, Price Anderson, and Michelle Daniel, represented the accountants in the Dallas Court of Appeals.