continuing undertaking rule
A rule of tort law that tolls (i.e., temporarily stops from running) a statute
of limitation for bringing a claim of negligence. (See
Tolling a statute of
limitations.) The continuing undertaking (also known as the continuous treatment
rule) rule is most often applied in cases when professional services have been
provided over an extended period of time rather than on a single date. For example,
the continuing undertaking rule would apply in the case of a client who received
legal advice from an attorney during a 1-year period. In this situation, the
statute of limitations is tolled until the attorney had concluded providing
legal advice on this matter. The rationale for the continuing undertaking rule
is that a claimant would be unable to discover the lawyer's negligence until
the lawyer ceased providing advice.
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