Seeking to recover the costs required to clean up a pre-existing landfill on a tract of land, the buyer of the tract sued the seller on an indemnity agreement, in which the seller had indemnified the buyer for any pre-existing environmental problems on the tract. In turn, the seller filed a third-party complaint against the attorney who closed the real estate deal and her law firm, alleging that the closing attorney had failed to follow the closing instructions in completing the transaction. Specifically, the seller averred that prior to closing, the seller had agreed to accept a reduced price in exchange for the invalidation of the indemnity agreement, but that the closing attorney had wrongfully delivered the indemnity agreement to the buyer even though the buyer had paid the seller only the reduced price and even though the closing attorney had expressly agreed to act otherwise. Because some evidence supported the seller’s allegations, the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to the closing attorney and her law firm on the third-party complaint. Accordingly, we reverse. Summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. OCGA § 9-11-56 c. A de novo standard of review applies to an appeal from a grant or denial of summary judgment, and we view the evidence, and all reasonable conclusions and inferences drawn from it, in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Matjoulis v. Integon Gen. Ins. Corp .1
So viewed, the evidence shows that Michael Ellis the “seller” agreed to sell a large tract of land to Southern Timber Company the “buyer” for $700,000, resulting in the parties executing a real estate contract to this effect. Because the buyer later heard that there might be an illegal landfill on a portion of the site, the buyer then required that the seller indemnify the buyer for any environmental problems on the land. The closing attorney Karen Ingle and her law firm Minor, Bell & Neal, P. C. were to be similarly indemnified by the seller. Because the seller anticipated being out-of-town for the closing, the seller executed all the closing documents prior to closing. Working through his own attorney, the seller several days before the closing delivered to the closing attorney who represented neither party but only the lender the signed indemnity agreements, settlement statement, warranty deed, and related documents.
