In an appeal about extinctive prescription for lawyers’ unpaid professional fees under Quebec civil law, the Court considered when the right of action arises under art. 2880 para. 2 C.C.Q. The fee agreement required invoices to be payable within 30 days, so exigibility and prescription began on the 31st day after each invoice was sent.
The Court rejected a categorical rule that prescription runs only from termination of the mandate or completion of work, emphasizing a fact-specific analysis grounded in contract terms and circumstances.
It also rejected suspension for impossibility in fact based on lawyers’ ethical obligations while acting for clients.
The appeal was dismissed, with prescription barring all but the final invoice.
