Van Kirk v. Miller

869 N.E.2d 534, 2007 Ind. App. LEXIS 1500, 2007 WL 2012415
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 13, 2007
Docket76A03-0610-CV-499
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 869 N.E.2d 534 (Van Kirk v. Miller) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Van Kirk v. Miller, 869 N.E.2d 534, 2007 Ind. App. LEXIS 1500, 2007 WL 2012415 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

OPINION

BAKER, Chief Judge.

Appellant-plaintiff Thomas Van Kirk appeals the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of appellees-defendants Ward Miller and the More, Miller, Yates & Tracey law firm (the More law firm) (collectively, the appellees). Specifically, Van Kirk argues that the trial court erred by granting summary judgment because (1) it did not rule on specific portions of the appellees’ motion to strike, (2) the conflict of interest between Van Kirk and Miller was rionconsentable or, alternatively, Miller’s conflict waiver was inadequate, (3) Miller breached his duty to Van Kirk when he negligently drafted an agreement between Van Kirk and Mark Summers and allegedly favored Summers during the dual representation, and (4) Miller breached his duty to Van Kirk when he continued to represent Summers after Van Kirk had terminated his attorney-client relationship with Miller. Concluding that Van Kirk cannot show that he was prejudiced by the trial court’s order regarding the appellees’ motion to strike, that the conflict of interest at issue herein was consentable, that Van Kirk knowingly signed a conflict waiver, and that Miller did not breach a duty to Van Kirk, we affirm the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the ap-pellees.

FACTS

In 1998, Summers purchased the B & T Sports Bar (B & T) in Fort Wayne on contract from Hilda Dill. Summers also purchased the real estate on which B & T was located on contract from Mary Fry-back. In October 2002, Summers began experiencing financial difficulties and contacted Miller 1 for financial advice. After analyzing Summers’s finances, Miller asked Summers if he would consider selling B & T. Summers expressed an interest to sell the bar and authorized Miller to contact potential buyers. Miller contacted Van Kirk, an experienced businessman 2 who Miller had represented for almost fifteen years. Van Kirk expressed an interest in the B & T deal, and Miller gave him Summers’s contact information.

*537 Van Kirk met with Summers and Summers told him that he owed Fryback $25,000 for the property and owed Dill $35,000 for the bar. Van Kirk offered to pay $30,000 to Dill, $20,000 to Fryback, and $5,000 to Summers, for a total purchase price of $55,000. Summers agreed to accept that offer. Van Kirk later met with Fryback, who verbally agreed to accept $20,000 in exchange for releasing Summers from his obligations on their contract. However, when Van Kirk contacted Dill, she rejected his $30,000 offer.

Nevertheless, Van Kirk told Summers that he wanted Miller to prepare the documents necessary to effect the B & T purchase. Because Miller would be representing both Van Kirk and Summers in the transaction, Miller drafted a Waiver of Conflict of Interest (the conflict waiver). Summers and Van Kirk both signed the conflict waiver on October 22, 2002.

Based on his clients’ direction, Miller drafted an Indemnity and Sale Agreement (the agreement), which provided that Summers would sell B & T to Van Kirk for $55,000. At Van Kirk’s request, the agreement explicitly provided that the agreement was conditioned on Fryback and Dill releasing Summers from his financial obligations on their contracts:

Summers has been purchasing the real estate located at 2809 West Main Street from [Fryback], who has agreed to take $20,000.00 at closing in lieu of the greater amount owed her under her real estate purchase contract; the validity of this agreement is contingent upon Fry-back agreeing to release Summers of his obligations under that contract and then providing marketable title to Summers to provide to Van Kirk at closing....
All of the shares of [B & T] are presently owned by [Summers], however, they have been pledged to [Dill] as collateral for an obligation owed to her. This agreement is expressly conditioned upon the willingness of Dill to release Summers of any continuing obligations to her in exchange for her receipt of $30,000.00 at closing. Summers will then transfer to Van Kirk all of the outstanding shares of [B & T], to which Van Kirk will contribute the land as capital. The transfer is also conditioned upon the acceptability of [Van Kirk], to the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, as a shareholder in [B & T].

Appellant’s App. p. 14-15. Van Kirk and Summers signed the agreement on October 22, 2002. The closing was scheduled to take place at Miller’s office on October 31, 2002, and, in anticipation of the closing, Van Kirk gave Miller $55,000, which Miller placed in an escrow account.

Although Van Kirk and Summers had signed the agreement, their interests soon began to diverge. After the signing, Summers began independently discussing the terms of the agreement with Dill. Dill informed Summers that she did not believe that she was receiving adequate consideration for her interest in B & T and that she would not accept less than $35,000. When Fryback learned that Dill would not accept a discounted amount, Fryback also “changed her mind” and informed Summers that she would “not be giving a discount.” Id. at 29. Dill told Summers that she would be interested in purchasing his B & T interest and that she would provide him with more than $5,000 “for his trouble.” Id. at 7.

On the morning of the proposed closing, Summers called Miller to tell him that he “wanted a couple days to think about it.” Id. at 62. Miller called Van Kirk to see if he would “be interested in putting more money into” the deal, and Van Kirk agreed that he would. Id. Miller prepared a revised closing document based on the higher sales price, and Van Kirk arrived at *538 Miller’s office with an additional $7,500 to pay Fryback and Dill in full. However, Miller and Van Kirk were the only two who attended the scheduled closing.

On November 5, 2002, Summers told Miller that he would not complete the transaction with Van Kirk “under any circumstances.” Id. at 63. Miller met with Van Kirk that same day and returned the money in the escrow account that had been earmarked for the transaction. Van Kirk accepted the money and informed Miller that another attorney, Don Swanson, was now representing him. Id. at 106.

Ultimately, Summers sold his interest in B & T to Dill on November 18, 2002, realizing an $11,000 profit. Miller represented Summers at the closing and Dill was represented by independent counsel. Through his new counsel, Van Kirk filed a complaint against Summers, Dill, and Fry-back on November 8, 2002, alleging breach of contract. The matter settled approximately nine months later, and Van Kirk’s complaint was dismissed with prejudice on September 23, 2003.

On October 14, 2004, Van Kirk filed a complaint against the appellees, alleging legal malpractice. The appellees filed a motion for summary judgment on April 21, 2006, and Van Kirk responded to the motion on July 17, 2006. 3

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Letner v. Kraus
N.D. Indiana, 2023
Mayberry v. Lenyo
N.D. Indiana, 2022
Rene DiBenedetto v. Timothy Devereux
78 N.E.3d 1117 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2017)
Donald Richardson v. Town of Worthington, Indiana
44 N.E.3d 42 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2015)
Thomas A. Ambrose II v. Dalton Construction, Inc.
44 N.E.3d 707 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2015)
Timothy Devereux v. Jim and Diana Love
30 N.E.3d 754 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2015)
Dianne L. Perkins v. Jeffrey Stesiak, and Pfeifer, Morgan and Stesiak
968 N.E.2d 319 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2012)
Flatow v. Ingalls
932 N.E.2d 726 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2010)
Gilbert Ex Rel. Parsley v. Loogootee Realty, LLC
928 N.E.2d 625 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2010)
Niezer v. Todd Realty, Inc.
913 N.E.2d 211 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2009)
Hill v. Bolinger
881 N.E.2d 92 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
869 N.E.2d 534, 2007 Ind. App. LEXIS 1500, 2007 WL 2012415, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/van-kirk-v-miller-indctapp-2007.