Justice Debra James

Plaintiff moved for partial summary judgment in its legal malpractice action; defendant cross-moved for summary judgment for dismissal. Plaintiff retained defendant to prepare documents to acquire air rights over a parcel adjoining plaintiff's property. Zoning regulations concerning ventilation for the adjacent property made plaintiff's proposed use of the air rights not feasible; pursuant to the purchase agreement, plaintiff declared the adjacent owner in violation. The owner successfully obtained a preliminary objection against plaintiff. Plaintiff then sued, alleging defendant committed malpractice by failing to draft the purchase agreement to include the adjacent owner's consent for plaintiff to cure zoning violations. Defendant argued plaintiff's proposed contractual term was non-standard and plaintiff's losses stemmed from its failure to timely provide defendant with necessary information. The court granted summary judgment dismissal to defendant. The court found that the facts showed no breach of the duty of care, as defendant's expert opined that as the transactional attorney defendant was not responsible for discovering potential zoning violations in plaintiff's project and that plaintiff's proposed term was non-standard.