Diann Parnell v. Victor L. Ivy, Peter J. Dauster, Hardee, Martin, Jaynes & Ivy, P.A., C. Wesley Fowler and Glankler Brown, PLLC

This is a legal malpractice case. The client filed suit in federal court against a municipality for the
death of her husband under the Governmental Tort Liability Act and U.S.C. § 1983. The federal
court dismissed the GTLA claim but retained the §1983 claims. The client dismissed her attorneys, hired new counsel and filed the GTLA claim in state court. The state court dismissed the GTLA claim because, while the GTLA claim was pending in federal court, the applicable statute of limitations expired. The client sued her original attorneys for malpractice. Shortly thereafter, the client settled the remaining § 1983 claims against the municipality. The defendant attorneys filed a motion for summary judgment in the malpractice case, arguing that the settlement with the municipality on the §1983 claims mandated dismissal of the legal malpractice claim. The trial court granted the summary judgment motion. The client appealed. We reverse, holding that the damages sought in the legal malpractice lawsuit are separate and distinct from the damages sought in the underlying lawsuit, and therefore settlement of the underlying lawsuit does not shield the former attorneys from liability.