This legal malpractice case originates from the defense of a legal malpractice action against Clarence H. Glover, Jr. After a jury found he had committed legal malpractice and awarded the plaintiff $186,142.50, Glover and his professional corporation Glover” sued his defense counsel, William S. Goodman, and Goodman, McGuffey, Aust & Lindsey “Goodman” for legal malpractice. In his complaint, Glover alleges that Goodman committed malpractice by failing to move for a directed verdict on a specific defense. According to Glover, this “ironclad” legal defense, which he believes entitled him to a verdict in his favor either at trial or on appeal, was lost as a result of law that Glover claims precludes this Court from considering on appeal grounds not specifically asserted in a motion for directed verdict. Goodman denies that he failed to properly preserve the defense in his motion for directed verdict and also argues that he could not have proximately caused any harm to Glover because this Court rejected the notion that Glover’s “ironclad” defense would have resulted in a defense verdict in Glover v. Ware, 222 Ga. App. 297 474 SE2d 1 1996. After the parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment, the trial court, without explanation, granted judgment in favor of Glover for unliquidated damages in an amount to be determined at trial. We reverse because we are persuaded by Goodman’s proximate cause argument.
The record shows that the malpractice action against Glover arose out of his “failure to timely file an amended estate tax return seeking a refund for taxes paid under protest.” Glover, supra, 222 Ga. App. at 297. Glover defended this action, in part, by claiming the plaintiffs were not entitled to a tax refund as a matter of law even if he had timely filed the return because disclaimers, which he had prepared for the plaintiffs, were null and void. These disclaimers, according to Glover, were void because they were executed by a natural guardian instead of a guardian of the minor’s property appointed by the probate court. Glover’s malpractice claim against Goodman arises out of Goodman’s alleged failure to move for a directed verdict on this specific ground.
