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Thursday, July 17, 2008
Ind. Decisions - "Trial judge summarily dismisses legal malpractice suit"
The Court of Appeals decision July 8th in the NFP case of Municipal Tax Liens, Inc. v. Michael Alexander is the subject of a story today by Rick Yencer in the Muncie Star-Press. From the story:
The Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed a local court's dismissal of a breach of contract suit against veteran attorney Michael "Mick" Alexander.Alexander, a former county prosecutor, was sued in 2000 by Municipal Tax Liens, a Florida company that purchases tax sale certificates, and owns and disposes of property acquired through tax sales.
MTL hired Alexander in 1998 to provide legal services to complete quiet title actions in Marion County and petitions for tax deeds in Vigo and Elkhart counties, agreeing to pay him $31,500.
The original suit filed in Delaware Circuit Court 1 accused Alexander of failing to provide those services, and allegedly costing MTL nearly $1 million in lost profits and property values. The company sought damages and costs for the contract breach and negligence.
After a series of pleadings and motions over the last seven years, Circuit Court 1 Judge Marianne Vorhees set the matter for a status conference last January after Alexander's attorney, Peter Drumm, moved to dismiss the case.
Vorhees agreed to the summary judgment dismissing the suit, saying the assignment of legal malpractice claim violated Indiana law and MTL was not the real party of interest in the action. * * *
The appeals court found that summary judgment was only appropriate where there was no genuine issue of material fact. * * *
"Based on Douglas's affidavit and construing the facts and reasonable inferences drawn from the facts in MTL's favor, we conclude that a genuine issue of material facts exists," the court wrote, regarding whether MTL was a direct continuation of RAP and whether RAP assigned the legal malpractice claim to MTL.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 17, 2008 07:17 AM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions