A Houston doctor has sued Houston lawyer Barney Stagner and his firm, alleging they were negligent when handling a lawsuit that resulted in a $180,000 judgment against him in January.

Plaintiff David Carpenter, a doctor, alleges he had to hire another lawyer to attempt to mitigate the damages created by the negligence of Stagner and his firm, Stagner Law Firm, but that lawyer's attempt was unsuccessful.

Carpenter seeks more than $200,000 in damages in Carpenter v. Stagner Law Firm, et al.

Stagner did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the petition filed Dec. 12 in the 270th District Court in Harris County, Carpenter alleges Stagner and his firm represented him in connection with the purchase of a medical practice following the death of a doctor. On Aug. 3, 2016, Carpenter alleges, the doctor's widow sued him, and he sent his lawyers a copy of the petition on Sept. 19, 2016.

Carpenter alleges that even though he had an attorney/client relationship with Stagner and his firm, they failed to timely file an answer to the petition, failed to timely file a response to a motion for default judgment or attend a hearing on the motion, “allowed” a default judgment to be entered against him, and failed to timely file a motion for new trial or an appeal.

“All of these acts and/or omissions resulted in a $180,000 judgment against plaintiff herein on Jan. 20, 2017,” Carpenter alleges in the petition, adding that he hired another attorney to try to “fix” some of the errors and omissions, but that lawyer was not successful.

Carpenter says the negligence was compounded because the defendants did not notify him of the judgment until it was too late to file an appeal “or otherwise try to protect himself.” Because of that, he alleges he entered into a settlement agreement for $170,000 but also had to pay about $26,243 to the other attorney in addition to the $3,500 he had previously paid to the defendants.

Carpenter seeks damages that include the $170,000 settlement, forfeiture of the $3,500 he paid the defendants, the $26,243 he paid the other attorney and attorney's fees for the negligence suit.

Plaintiffs attorney Ross Sears, a partner at Sears Crawford in Houston, did not immediately return a request seeking comment.