Prince v. Buck

969 So. 2d 641, 2006 La.App. 4 Cir. 1603, 2007 La. App. LEXIS 2120, 2007 WL 4170811
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 16, 2007
DocketNo. 2006-CA-1603
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 969 So. 2d 641 (Prince v. Buck) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Prince v. Buck, 969 So. 2d 641, 2006 La.App. 4 Cir. 1603, 2007 La. App. LEXIS 2120, 2007 WL 4170811 (La. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

CHARLES R. JONES, Judge.

11 Cynthia Prince, wife ofiand Gregory Prince (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Princes”), seek review of a district court judgment granting the motion for summary judgment of Frank Buck and dismissing the Princes’ case. We affirm.

On December 12, 1997, Mr. Prince retained attorney Robert Manard to handle a workers’ compensation claim against his employer. Mr. Manard and Mr. Buck, who was an associate attorney at Mr. Ma-nard’s law firm, filed suit on Mr. Prince’s behalf on March 31, 1998, in the 16th Judicial District Court for the Parish of St. Mary.

As a result of an alleged rift between Mr. Manard and Mr. Buck, Mr. Buck withdrew as counsel of record on March 7, 2002. He also filed a petition for intervention in Mr. Prince’s case. Thereafter, Mr. Prince filed a motion for sanctions against Mr. Buck asserting that he abandoned Mr. Prince’s case, that his withdrawal would cause a hardship upon him, and harm his case at trial. Mr. | ¡¡Prince also filed a motion to continue the trial that was scheduled for September 23, 2002.

Mr. Prince then retained attorneys David Groner and Frank Barber to serve as additional counsel with Mr. Manard. These three attorneys settled his case for $150,000.00 during an in-court pre-trial settlement proceeding. Pursuant to the terms of the settlement, Mr. Prince released all of the underlying defendants, dismissed his lawsuit, and his motion to continue was rendered moot. Mr. Prince recited his understanding of the terms of the settlement on the record. A reservation of rights in favor of Mr. Prince was not included in the settlement.

In the same proceeding, Mr. Manard brought to the district court’s attention that there were two matters that were unresolved: 1.) Mr. Buck’s intervention, and 2.) Mr. Prince’s motion for sanctions. These issues were subsequently settled pursuant to a stipulated judgment that was entered into on February 7, 2003.

On or about July 30, 2003, the Princes’ subsequently sued Mr. Manard, Mr. Buck, Mr. Groner, Mr. Barber, Continental Casualty Company and Clarendon National Insurance Company for legal malpractice in the Parish of Orleans. Mr. Groner and Mr. Barber were later dismissed from this case via summary judgment. Thereafter, Mr. Buck and his personal liability insurer, Continental Casualty Company (hereinafter referred to as “CNA”), filed motions for summary judgment seeking dismissal from the instant case. The district court granted the motions on March 18, 2005. The Princes’ filed a motion for new trial and exceptions of prematurity, no cause of action, prescription and preemption. However, the ^district court denied the motion and exceptions. The Princes’ filed the instant appeal.

The Princes allege that the district court erred in granting Mr. Buck’s and CNA’s motions for summary judgment. Specifically, the Princes contend that the district [643]*643court erred in finding that there was no indication of negligence and/or wrongdoing by Mr. Buck because these issues by agreement were not before the district court. They further contend that the district court erred in finding that Mr. Buck and CNA are immune from claims for legal malpractice involving his representation of Mr. Prince because Mr. Prince settled his claims following Mr. Buck’s withdrawal as counsel.

The standard of review of a summary judgment is de novo. Suskind v. Shervin-Gulf Tranon, 03-0037, p. 1 (La.App. 4 Cir. 4/16/03), 846 So.2d 93, 96. Furthermore, a motion for summary judgment will be granted if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to material fact, and that the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. La. C.C.P. art. 966(B).

The reviewing court asks the same questions as does the trial court in determining whether summary judgment is appropriate: whether there is any genuine issue of material fact, and whether the mover-appellant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Smith v. Our Lady of the Lake Hosp., Inc., 93-2512, p. 26 (La.7/5/94), 639 So.2d 730, 750.

Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article 966(C)(2) provides:

The burden of proof remains with the movant. However, if the movant will not bear the burden of proof |4at trial on the matter that is before the court on the motion for summary judgment, the movant’s burden on the motion does not require him to negate all essential elements of the adverse party’s claims, action, or defense. Thereafter, if the adverse party fails to produce factual support sufficient to establish that he will be able to satisfy his evidentiary burden of proof at trial, there is no genuine issue of material fact.

To prove a claim for legal malpractice, a plaintiff must prove: (1) there was an attorney-client relationship; (2) the attorney was negligent, and (3) that negligence caused plaintiff some loss. Couture v. Guillory, 97-2796, p. 3 (La.App. 4 Cir. 4/15/98), 713 So.2d 528, 530 (quoting Scott v. Thomas, 543 So.2d 494 (La.App. 4 Cir. 1989)). However, if a plaintiff is able to prove the first two elements of the legal malpractice test, the burden then shifts to the defendant attorney to establish that the client could not have succeeded on the original claim. Jenkins v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 422 So.2d 1109, 1110 (La. 1982).

As we further explained in Broadscape.com, Inc. v. Walker, 03-904, p. 7 (La.App. 4 Cir. 2/25/2004), 866 So.2d 1085, 1089:

Jenkins does not dispose of the plaintiffs burden in providing all three prongs required in a legal malpractice suit. The court reasoned:
when the plaintiff proves that negligence on the part of his former attorney has caused the loss of the opportunity to assert a claim and thus established the inference of causation of damages resulting from the loss [sic] opportunity for recovery, an appellate court must determine whether the negligent attorney met his burden of producing sufficient proof to overcome plaintiffs and cause the loss of the opportunity to assert a claim and thus establishes the inference of causation of damages resulting from the loss opportunity for recovery, an appellate court must determine whether the negligent attorney met his burden of producing sufficient proof to overcome plaintiffs prima facie case.

[644]*644|RIn their first assignment of error, the Princes assert that the district court erred in finding that there was no indication of negligence and/or wrongdoing by Mr. Buck because those issues were not before the trial court.

Mr. Buck challenged all three (3) elements of the legal malpractice standard in his motion for summary judgment. Yet, at the hearing on the motion for summary judgment, the district court limited its review to the third element of the legal malpractice test per the agreement of the parties.

It was absurd for Mr. Buck to agree to limit his motion for summary judgment to the issue of damages when he was not conceding that the Princes’ could succeed in carrying their burden of proof on the first two factors. Additionally, the district court should not have not have addressed the issue of damages without first making a determination as to whether an attorney/client relationship existed between the parties and whether Mr. Buck was indeed negligent.

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Bluebook (online)
969 So. 2d 641, 2006 La.App. 4 Cir. 1603, 2007 La. App. LEXIS 2120, 2007 WL 4170811, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/prince-v-buck-lactapp-2007.