Willie Rhone died intestate on March 5, 1999, leaving no spouse or children. His mother and half-brother, Wyona and James Rhone, prosecuted and settled a medical malpractice wrongful death claim for $1.9 million. After the settlement and disbursement to Wyona Rhone and to James Rhone as the estate administrator, Willie Rhone’s father, Willie James Bolden, filed suit in superior court against Wyona and James Rhone, James Rhone’s wife Lorine Rhone, the attorneys who handled the estate matters Daryl Von Yokely, individually and d/b/a “The Law Offices of Daryl Von Yokely, and Tracy Parsons, and the attorneys who prosecuted the wrongful death claim Marvin Devlin, Chrisna Walker, Devlin & Robinson, P.C.. Bolden alleged that the Rhones committed fraud and the attorneys committed legal malpractice, among other things.1 The superior court entered a consent interlocutory injunction in September 2002, then found James Rhone and his wife in criminal contempt for violating that injunction. Rhone appeals the contempt citation in Case Number A04A1596. The attorney defendants moved for summary judgment, as did Bolden in separate motions for partial summary judgment against Wyona Rhone and the attorney defendants. The trial court denied the motions, finding that genuine issues of material fact remain to be determined by a jury. The attorney defendants appeal the denial of their motion in Case Number A04A1597 and Bolden appeals the denial of his motions in Case Number A04A1598. For the reasons that follow, we vacate the contempt order in Case No. A04A1596 finding James Rhone in criminal contempt, and remand for further proceedings. We also reverse the denial of summary judgment to the attorney defendants in Case Number A04A1597, and affirm the denial of summary judgment to Bolden in Case Number A04A1598.
1. We must first address whether we have jurisdiction to consider the summary judgment orders. The trial court entered its contempt order against James Rhones and his wife on December 17, 2003. On January 13, 2004, the Rhones filed a timely notice directly appealing that order. On January 14, 2004, the trial court entered an order denying several pending motions by Bolden. On January 26, 2004, Bolden filed a notice of cross appeal, seeking review of the trial court’s January 14, 2004 order, as well as a March 3, 2003 order denying his first motion for partial summary judgment against Wyona Rhone.
