Reverses grant of SJ in favor of appellee regarding appellant's attorney malpractice complaint

UNPUBLISHED

Municipal Tax Liens, Inc. ("MTL") appeals the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to Michael Alexander regarding MTL’s attorney malpractice complaint against Alexander. MTL raises one issue, which we revise and restate as whether the trial court erred by granting summary judgment to Alexander.

Conclusion (slip op. at 10): We reverse the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to Alexander and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Key Analysis (slip op. at 8-9, 10): The Indiana Supreme Court has held that legal malpractice claims are not assignable . . . Douglas’s affidavit does not expressly state that CARP had a malpractice claim against Alexander and assigned it to MTL. Rather the affidavit merely states that the settlement reached by MTL and CARP was offset and reduced by the amount of losses attributed to the tax certificates and liens . . . We conclude that a genuine issue of material fact exists regarding whether MTL is a direct continuation of RAP and whether RAP assigned the legal malpractice claim to MTL. Thus, the trial court erred by granting summary judgment to Alexander.