Tante v. Herring
| Decision Date | 31 October 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. S94G0476,S94G0476 |
| Citation | 453 S.E.2d 686,264 Ga. 694 |
| Parties | TANTE v. HERRING et al. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
John W. Denney, Denney, Pease, Allison, Kirk & Lomax, Columbus, for T. Edward Tante, IV.
Frank J. Beltran, Simone R. Siex, Beltran & Associates, Atlanta, for Laura K. Herring et al.
We granted certiorari to the Court of Appeals in Tante v. Herring, 211 Ga.App. 322, 439 S.E.2d 5 (1993) to determine whether the Court of Appeals was correct in upholding Laura and Bobby Herring's claims against their former attorney, T. Edward Tante. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
The Herrings retained Tante to pursue a claim for social security disability benefits for Mrs. Herring before the Social Security Administration. During his representation of Mrs. Herring, Tante appeared with her at a hearing before an administrative law judge and wrote a letter brief on her behalf. Thereafter, the administrative law judge issued a favorable award to Mrs. Herring. Tante's subsequent request for attorney fees for his work in representing Mrs. Herring, which request had been approved by both the Herrings, was approved by the administrative law judge.
The issues underlying this appeal involve the Herrings' action against Tante for legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract, all pertaining to Tante's adulterous relationship with Mrs. Herring during the period in which he was pursuing the disability claim on her behalf. The Herrings allege that Tante caused physical and mental harm to Mrs. Herring by taking advantage of confidential information regarding her emotional and mental condition to convince her to have an affair with him. The Herrings also allege Tante violated rules and standards of the State Bar of Georgia, violated his fiduciary duty, and breached his contract with the Herrings. The trial court granted partial summary judgment to the Herrings on the question of Tante's liability and denied summary judgment to Tante. The Court of Appeals affirmed.
1. The Court of Appeals correctly pointed out that the elements of an action for legal malpractice consist of employment of an attorney; failure of the attorney to exercise ordinary care, skill and diligence; and damages proximately caused by that failure. Tante v. Herring, supra at 324(2), 439 S.E.2d 5. See generally, Adams & Adams, Ga.Law of Torts, § 5-3 (1989). This is simply a corollary of the traditional formula for the elements necessary to a cause of action in tort: duty, breach (failure to conform to the required standard) and damage proximately caused by the breach. Prosser & Keaton, The Law of Torts, § 30 (5th ed. 1984). It is axiomatic that the element of breach of duty in a legal malpractice case--the failure to exercise ordinary care, skill, and diligence--must relate directly to the duty of the attorney, that is, the duty to perform the task for which he was employed. Of course, in an action for legal malpractice, the plaintiff must file with the complaint an expert's affidavit setting forth at least one negligent act constituting the alleged breach of duty and the factual basis for each claim of negligence. OCGA § 9-11-9.1(a). See Lutz v. Foran, 262 Ga. 819(1), 427 S.E.2d 248 (1993); Housing Auth. of Savannah v. Greene, 259 Ga. 435, 436(1), 383 S.E.2d 867 (1989). Although the Herrings did attach an expert's affidavit to their complaint, the expert did not set forth a negligent act which would constitute the basis for a claim of legal malpractice.
There is no evidence that Tante's conduct of which the Herrings complain had any effect on his performance of legal services under his agreement with the Herrings. Indeed, Tante obtained for Mrs. Herring precisely the results for which he was retained, the recovery of social security disability benefits. 1 Contrary to the holding of the Court of Appeals, 211 Ga.App. at 324(2), 439 S.E.2d 5, a satisfactory result under an agreement for legal services by necessity precludes a claim for legal malpractice. Accordingly, the Court of Appeals erred in affirming the trial court's grant of summary judgment to the Herrings on their claim against Tante for legal malpractice. 2
2. However, we agree with the Court of Appeals, 211 Ga.App. at 327(3), 439 S.E.2d 5, that the Herrings have a claim against Tante for damages for breach of fiduciary duty. 3 That claim is not one for professional malpractice based on negligence involving Tante's performance of legal services, and, therefore, no expert affidavit is required in support of it. The fiduciary duty in this context arises from the attorney-client relationship. Tante was a fiduciary with regard to the confidential information provided him by his client just as he would have been a fiduciary with regard to money or other property entrusted to him by a client. 4 Thus, the Herrings' claim is based on Tante's alleged misuse, to his own advantage, of confidential information in medical and psychological reports concerning Mrs. Herring obtained in and solely because of Tante's representation of her. 5 Tante did not controvert the allegations that he took advantage of information contained in Mrs. Herring's confidential medical and psychological reports about her impaired emotional and mental condition, that Tante took advantage of that condition, convincing her to have an affair with him, resulting in physical and mental harm to the Herrings. Id., 211 Ga.App. at 323,...
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