Hughes v. Martin
| Decision Date | 23 September 1988 |
| Parties | Henry C. HUGHES, Jr. v. Ludger D. MARTIN. 86-1179. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Leon Garmon, Gadsden, for appellant.
Curtis Wright of Dortch, Wright & Russell, Gadsden, for appellee.
This is an appeal in a legal malpractice case, brought by plaintiff/appellant Henry C. Hughes, Jr., against attorney Ludger Martin, from a summary judgment entered in favor of the defendant attorney, Ludger Martin.
Hughes's parents were killed when the vehicle they were driving was hit head-on by a tractor-trailer unit owned by Southern Haulers, Inc., and driven by George Porter, Jr. Hughes, as executor of his parents' estates, retained Myron Allenstein to represent him. Allenstein filed a wrongful death action against Southern Haulers, without joining Porter as a defendant. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Hughes in the amount of $10,000. Hughes appealed that judgment to the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, claiming, inter alia, that the trial jury awarded insufficient damages; the Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the trial court's judgment on all grounds. See Hughes v. Southern Haulers, Inc., 379 So.2d 601 (Ala.Civ.App.1979).
Hughes, acting through attorney Allenstein, filed another wrongful death action, this time against George Porter, Jr., the driver of the tractor-trailer rig. Approximately four months later, Allenstein associated attorney Ludger Martin to assist him in the Porter case. Heeding the advice of Allenstein and Martin, Hughes accepted Porter's pretrial settlement offer of $25,000.
Following the settlement of the Porter case, Hughes brought a malpractice action against Allenstein in a federal district court, claiming damages for Allenstein's alleged negligence in the Southern Haulers case. A jury returned a verdict in Allenstein's favor, and the judgment based on that verdict was subsequently affirmed on appeal. Hughes v. Allenstein, 802 F.2d 1397 (11th Cir.1986).
Within a month after the verdict in favor of Allenstein in the Southern Haulers case, plaintiff Hughes brought a malpractice action against both Allenstein and Martin in state court, alleging that Allenstein and Martin had breached their fiduciary duties and had negligently rendered legal advice with regard to Porter's settlement offer in the Hughes v. Porter case. The trial court granted Allenstein's motion for summary judgment, and Hughes appealed to this Court, which affirmed. See Hughes v. Allenstein, 514 So.2d 858 (Ala.1987). Martin also filed a motion for summary judgment, which the trial court also granted. Hughes now appeals from the summary judgment in Martin's favor.
The trial court did not specify the ground upon which it based its summary judgment in favor of Martin, but the law in Alabama is clear that this Court is bound to sustain a trial court's judgment, if there is a valid basis for it. Cole v. Racetrac Petroleum, Inc., 466 So.2d 93 (Ala.1985); Kite v. Kite, 444 So.2d 863 (Ala.Civ.App.1983).
We believe there is a legal ground upon which the summary judgment in favor of Martin can be sustained.
In our judgment, this Court's decision in Hughes v. Allenstein, supra, which affirmed the summary judgment in favor of Allenstein, adjudicated the same cause of action that appellant now seeks to litigate against Martin, who was associated in the case by Allenstein; therefore, the principle of res judicata is applicable.
Res judicata is a broad, judicially developed doctrine, which rests upon the ground that public policy, and the interest of the litigants alike, mandate that there be an end to litigation; that those who have contested an issue shall be bound by the ruling of the court; and that issues once tried shall be considered forever settled between those same parties and their privies. 46 Am.Jur.2d, Res Judicata, § 395 (1969). "The principle of res judicata fosters reliance on judicial action, and tends to eliminate vexation and expense to the parties, wasted use of judicial machinery and the possibility of inconsistent results." "Developments in the Law--Res Judicata," 65 Harv.L.Rev. 820 (1952).
In order for a judgment in the prior suit to bar a subsequent suit: (1) the question or fact must have been litigated and determined by a court of competent jurisdiction; (2) the final judgment must have been rendered on the merits; (3) the parties, or those in privity with them, must be of such a relationship to the parties in the subsequent action as to entitle them to the benefits and/or burdens of the prior litigation; and (4) the same cause of action must be involved in both lawsuits. Stevenson v. International Paper Co., 516 F.2d 103 (5th Cir.1975).
If these essential elements are met, any issue that was, or could have been, adjudicated in the prior action is barred from further litigation. Trimble v. Bramco Products, Inc., 351 So.2d 1357 (Ala.1977); McGruder v. B & L Construction Co., 331 So.2d 257 (Ala.1976).
Hughes, in his brief, concedes that "the first two elements of res judicata are present in the action at bar." However, he argues that the last two elements of res judicata are not present, namely, that the parties to the two suits are not identical and that the cause of action is not the same in both the original action against Allenstein and the present action against Allenstein and Martin.
It is our conclusion, reached after careful consideration of the record, that the requirements for the principle of res judicata to apply are met in this case. Both the first requirement (i.e., a question determined by a court of competent jurisdiction), and the second requirement (i.e., a final judgment rendered on the merits) are clearly met in this case. We also find that the third and fourth requirements, dealing respectively with whether the parties in the two lawsuits are in privity with each other and whether the cause of action is the same in both the original action and in the present action, have likewise been met. We set forth our specific reasons with regard to the third and fourth requirements.
Appellant strenuously insists that his prior claim against attorney Allenstein was for...
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