Louis Levenson.

After delivering a verdict worth more than $5.5 million to a man who sued his former lawyer and employer for legal malpractice and other claims, a DeKalb County jury will be back in court Monday to consider how much to award in punitive damages against Atlanta lawyer James Potts II. 

The only issue at trial in the contentious dispute between Potts and plaintiff William Clowdis Jr., an attorney and medical doctor, was the amount of damages to be awarded after Potts' defenses were struck for litigation tactics a judge deemed "the most egregious the court has ever seen."   

Even so, plaintiffs attorney Louis Levenson said Potts "still tried to divert liability, blaming other people."

"From a trial strategy point of view, I thought it was a bad strategy, but that was their approach. Obviously, it didn't sell," said Levenson, who tried the case with Levenson & Associates colleagues Lori Christman and Randy Williams. 

Potts and his attorneys, Eugene Butt of Potts' Atlanta law firm and Decatur solo R. Edward Furr Jr., did not respond to request for comment Friday. 

According to Levenson and court filings, the case began when Clowdis, an obstetrician/gynecologist then practicing in Virginia, had his license suspended in 2007 because of a prescription drug-related charge in Colorado a few years earlier. 

Clowdis—who also had a law degree—retained Potts to represent him before the Virginia Medical Board. Potts hired Clowdis to assist with working up medical malpractice cases, paying him a salary and providing lodging on Potts property. 

Clowdis subsequently accused Potts of ruining his relationship with the medical board, resulting in his license being "re-suspended" and failing to do anything to help his case.

He also said Potts settled cases the two worked on together for more than $10 million but refused to share the proceeds. 

Clowdis sued Potts and his practice in DeKalb County Superior Court in 2016 for multiple counts, including legal malpractice, defamation, breach of fiduciary duty and libel.

Potts successfully moved to have several of the counts dismissed and filed his own counterclaims and motion for summary judgment.

In 2017, the judge then overseeing the case, J.P. Boulee, struck Potts' pleadings as a sanction for repeated instances of discovery abuse, writing that Potts "willfully, falsely, and knowingly den[ied] the existence of requested discoverable documents."

The case was assigned to Judge Stacey Hydrick after Boulee was named to the federal bench last year.

During a trial that began Feb. 24, Levenson said he called the only expert witness to testify, Hawkins Parnell & Young partner Christine Mast. 

The jury deliberated for about 2½ days before entering a verdict Thursday afternoon awarding Clowdis $5,563,600, including $2,728,000 in general damages, $2,350,000 in loss of earnings and $485,000 in attorney fees. The jury also found that punitive damages should be awarded.

Levenson said he doesn't expect that portion of the trial to last long.   

"I told the judge I expected my opening to be five minutes, then an hour, hour-and-a-half for the trial," he said.

Levenson said that, since filing the suit, Clowdis has gotten his bar license in New York and will likely join the Virginia bar and also hopes to have his medical license back soon. 

"I feel very bad for Dr. Clowdis for having been put through this," he said. "What troubled me most about this case—and perhaps troubled the jurors as well—was that, rather than accept any responsibility for what he had done, Mr. Potts blamed Dr. Clowdis. They called him a con man and worse."

Asked whether Potts carries any legal malpractice insurance, Levenson said he didn't think so.  

"Not as far as I know," he said. "His lawyer told me he didn't."