Meisler v. Weinberg

90 N.E.3d 146, 2017 Ohio 1563
CourtCourt of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth District, Cuyahoga County
DecidedApril 27, 2017
DocketNo. 105016
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 90 N.E.3d 146 (Meisler v. Weinberg) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth District, Cuyahoga County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Meisler v. Weinberg, 90 N.E.3d 146, 2017 Ohio 1563 (Ohio Super. Ct. 2017).

Opinion

SEAN C. GALLAGHER, J.:

{¶ 1} Plaintiff-appellant Carole Meisler (hereafter "Meisler") appeals the trial court's decision to grant summary judgment in favor of defendant-appellee Richard M. Weinberg (hereafter "Attorney Weinberg"). Upon review, we affirm.

{¶ 2} On October 15, 2014, Meisler, individually and as executor of the estate of Marietta Meisler, filed an action for legal malpractice against Attorney Weinberg.

*148Meisler claimed that Attorney Weinberg had improperly and negligently drafted a trust, referred to as "the 2000 Trust," that was executed by Meisler's mother, Marietta Meisler (hereafter "Marietta"). Meisler alleged that the trust was drafted contrary to the wishes of Marietta and to the interests of Meisler, who was a beneficiary under the trust, in that it failed to convey the property intended to be conveyed to Meisler and failed to include proper successor language indicating that it replaced an earlier trust executed by Marietta, referred to as "the 1989 Trust." Meisler further alleged that her damages included the loss of 10 percent of the residual estate, an amount to which she claimed she would have been entitled but for Attorney Weinberg's alleged negligence.

{¶ 3} The record reflects that Marietta executed the 1989 Trust and amended it on several occasions, all before she retained Attorney Weinberg. In 2000, Marietta retained Attorney Weinberg, who prepared the 2000 Trust and additional estate planning documents, including three irrevocable trusts that were never funded. The end result was that upon Marietta's death, she had two revocable trusts: the 1989 Trust that apportioned certain assets equally between Meisler and Meisler's brother and the 2000 Trust that apportioned certain assets as 60 percent to Meisler and 40 percent to Meisler's brother.

{¶ 4} Meisler claims that the legal malpractice arose from Attorney Weinberg's failure to include successor replacement language in the 2000 Trust, which allegedly resulted in Marietta's estate not being divided pursuant to her wishes. Attorney Weinberg maintains that the 2000 Trust and other estate planning documents were prepared at the direction of Marietta; and as requested by Marietta, they were designed to provide additional options and flexibility with regard to the eventual disposition of her assets. After the 2000 Trust was established, Marietta continued to make changes to her estate plan and transferred certain assets into each of the trusts. Marietta died in 2013.

{¶ 5} Following initial proceedings, Attorney Weinberg filed a motion for summary judgment that claimed, among other arguments, that Meisler lacked standing to bring a legal malpractice claim. The motion was opposed by Meisler. On September 13, 2016, the trial court granted the motion. This appeal followed.

{¶ 6} Meisler's sole assignment of error claims the trial court erred in granting the motion for summary judgment. Appellate review of summary judgment is de novo, governed by the standard set forth in Civ.R. 56. Argabrite v. Neer , 149 Ohio St.3d 349, 2016-Ohio-8374, 75 N.E.3d 161 ¶ 14. Summary judgment is appropriate only when "[1] no genuine issue of material fact remains to be litigated, [2] the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, and, [3] viewing the evidence most strongly in favor of the nonmoving party, reasonable minds can reach a conclusion only in favor of the moving party." Id.

{¶ 7} Potential beneficiaries have no right to sue the attorney who represented the settlor of a trust for alleged mistakes arising from pre-death estate-planning matters. Peleg v. Spitz , 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 89048, 2007-Ohio-6304, 2007 WL 4200611, aff'd , 118 Ohio St.3d 446, 2008-Ohio-3176, 889 N.E.2d 1019 ; Lewis v. Star Bank, N.A. , 90 Ohio App.3d 709, 630 N.E.2d 418 (12th Dist.1993). A potential beneficiary does not possess the requisite privity to bring a suit for legal malpractice allegedly occurring prior to the settlor's death. Peleg at ¶ 17 ; Lewis at 712, 630 N.E.2d 418.

*149{¶ 8} The Ohio Supreme Court has held that "attorneys in Ohio are not liable to a third party for the good-faith representation of a client, unless the third party is in privity with the client for whom the legal services were performed." Shoemaker v. Gindlesberger , 118 Ohio St.3d 226, 2008-Ohio-2012, 887 N.E.2d 1167, ¶ 9, citing Scholler v. Scholler , 10 Ohio St.3d 98, 462 N.E.2d 158 (1984), paragraph one of the syllabus. "This rule is rooted in the attorney's obligation to direct attention to the needs of the client, not to the needs of a third party not in privity with the client." Shoemaker at ¶ 9, citing Simon v. Zipperstein , 32 Ohio St.3d 74, 76, 512 N.E.2d 636 (1987).

{¶ 9} In Shoemaker , the Ohio Supreme Court found that generally, potential beneficiaries to a will did not have standing to file a negligence suit against the attorney who drafted the decedent's will. Id. at ¶ 10.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
90 N.E.3d 146, 2017 Ohio 1563, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/meisler-v-weinberg-ohctapp8cuyahog-2017.