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Ford v. Smith

The trial court erred in granting summary judgment to the plaintiffs after granting them a new trial in their negligence suit against the defendant because material issues of fact remained.

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This is an appeal from the Superior Court of Fulton County’s grant of summary judgment to plaintiffs Bryan Smith et al “appellees”1 in their negligence suit against defendant Patrick J. Ford. For the reasons the follow, we reverse.

Viewing all facts and inferences in a light most favorable to the non-movant, Ford,2 the record shows that the instant case stemmed from the actions of Alan Lloyd Schall, who established a group of companies, collectively “Ecotech,”3 in the Fall of 1995. Schall promoted Ecotech as providing allegedly soon-to-be-legally-mandatory lead based paint inspections prior to real estate purchases. Ecotech purportedly offered a “Safe Seal” certification of inspection that would, according to Schall, prove to be invaluable/necessary in the sale of environmentally safe homes.

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