Danielle Rollins. (Photo: John Disney/ALM)

The Georgia Supreme Court declined to take up an appeal challenging the dismissal of nearly all of the legal malpractice claims author and socialite Danielle Rollins leveled against the lawyers who handled her multimillion-dollar divorce from former Orkin Pest Control CEO Glen Rollins.

The 2013 settlement saw Danielle Rollins awarded more than $15.3 million, but in 2015 she sued her former lawyers—Alvah Smith and his firm, Levine Smith Snider & Wilson, and Barry McGough and his firm, now known as Warner Bates—for legal malpractice and breach of contract.

Among Rollins' allegations were that her lawyers pressured her to settle for less than 40% of joint funds and failed to include the value of other holdings and stocks before telling her the settlement was the best offer she would get.

Rollins sought millions of dollars in damages, but a Fulton County judge dismissed all the claims on summary judgment, and last October the Georgia Court of Appeals largely affirmed that ruling except for a claim that she should have been credited for $166,567 from a joint bank Glenn Rollins spent paying his lawyers.

"There is evidence that the law defendants failed to exercise such care when they neglected to make sure that a separate stipulation was executed so that Rollins would receive the attorney fee credit as the court ordered," the Court of Appeals ruling said.

Danielle Rollins appealed that ruling to the high court, which on July 15 denied certiorari.

Her lawyer, Corbett Firm principal Chris Corbett, did not respond to a request for comment.

Joe Kingma of of Copeland, Stair Kingma & Lovell represents Levine Smith; Bill Mitchell of Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston & Zimet and Robyn Webb of Hoffer & Webb represent Warner Bates.

In an email, Kingma expressed optimism about the remainder of the case.

"The trial court struck all of Ms. Rollins claims on summary judgment," said Kingma. "The Court of Appeals affirmed but carved out an opportunity for Ms. Rollins to prove that she should have received an additional $166,000 in settlement.

"Thus, this case wherein Ms. Rollins sought more than $10 million in damages, has been eviscerated."

Smith played no role in negotiating the settlement "and Ms. Rollins' ex-husband would not have paid her a nickel more," said Kingma. "Al Smith did outstanding work and caused her no damages. We are confident that a jury will see the case for what it is."

Mitchell and Webb did not respond to requests for comment.

The divorce dispute did not end with the settlement: Glen Rollins later sought and was awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages and attorney fees related to claims his ex-wife removed or damaged tens of thousands of dollars worth of furnishings at Boxwood, the Buckhead mansion the couple once shared, before she relinquished the home to him as stipulated in the settlement.