Porter & Clements v. Stone

In Porter & Clements v. Stone, 935 S.W.2d 217 (Tex. App.--Houston 1st Dist. 1996, no writ), the Houston Court of Appeals held that an arbitration agreement in a fee agreement applied to legal malpractice and misrepresentation claims, even though the only examples of covered disputes expressly stated within the agreement were fee-related. Id. at 220. In Porter, however, the parties did not dispute either the existence of the arbitration agreement or that it encompassed the claims at issue. Id. The only issue before the court--and the only issue addressed by the court--was whether the arbitration was binding. The issue of whether a legal malpractice claim is a personal injury action within the meaning of Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code section 171.002(a)(3) was not addressed by the court.