FRANK PAWLENDZIO et al. v. JON HADDOW
Pen-15-305
MAINE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT
September 20, 2016
2016 ME 144
SAUFLEY, C.J., and ALEXANDER, GORMAN, JABAR, HJELM, and HUMPHREY, JJ.
Argued: April 5, 2016; Reporter of Decisions
[¶1] Frank and Beverly Pawlendzio appeal from an order of the Superior Court (Penobscot County, Anderson, J.) granting summary judgment in favor of Jon Haddow on the Pawlendzios’ claim alleging attorney malpractice. Because the record does not present a legally cognizable claim of legal malpractice, we affirm.
I. FACTS
[¶2] For fifteen years, Frank Pawlendzio owned and operated Oak Ridge Builders, Inc., a home construction company. Oak Ridge was in business until 2007, when it filed for bankruptcy. Jon Haddow provided legal advice in connection with the bankruptcy proceedings. There is no suggestion that
[¶3] While the corporate bankruptcy was pending, Frank decided to build a house in his individual capacity on a parcel of property that he owned with the intent to sell the house (“spec house“) upon completion. Haddow again provided Frank with legal advice concerning the venture. To finance the project, Frank obtained funding from three people: $110,000 from a longtime friend, Howard Martin; $57,500 from his elderly father-in-law, Edward King, whose accounts were controlled by Frank‘s wife, Beverly; and $4,000 from his brother, Stan Pawlendzio. At the time they were made, all three loans were unsecured.
[¶4] When the house was substantially completed but before it was sold, Frank learned that he continued to owe a significant amount of money to Oak Ridge‘s creditors because he had personally guaranteed some debts that were not subject to discharge in the corporate bankruptcy.
[¶5] Frank consulted Haddow about filing for personal bankruptcy, and because he understood from conversations with Haddow that he could protect his unsecured creditors with mortgages, Frank asked Haddow to prepare after-the-fact mortgages for the three personal lenders. Pursuant to
[¶6] The after-the-fact mortgages did not, however, protect the personal lenders’ interest as contemplated. At the conclusion of the bankruptcy proceedings, the bankruptcy estate distributed $500 each to King and Frank, and $105,000 to Martin. Although the bankruptcy estate repaid the majority of the funds Martin loaned to Frank, the Pawlendzios made monthly payments to him to make up the difference because they believed that he had a viable claim against them and because they wanted to salvage their friendship with Martin.
[¶7] Following the Pawlendzios’ personal bankruptcy proceedings, on July 11, 2012, they filed a complaint against Haddow in the Superior Court asserting claims of legal malpractice and seeking damages for economic loss and extreme emotional distress. In their complaint, the Pawlendzios alleged that after learning of his substantial personal debt obligations, Frank requested that Haddow protect the investments of the three personal lenders and that Haddow was negligent in failing to do so by means of the after-the-
[¶8] Haddow subsequently moved for summary judgment, and, on May 26, 2015, the court entered an order granting summary judgment in his favor. The Pawlendzios timely appealed.
II. DISCUSSION
[¶9] We review a grant of summary judgment de novo, considering the evidence in the light “most favorable to the nonprevailing party to determine whether the parties’ statements of material facts and the record evidence to which the statements refer demonstrate that there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Rainey v. Langen, 2010 ME 56, ¶ 23, 998 A.2d 342 (quoting Beal v. Allstate Ins. Co., 2010 ME 20, ¶ 11, 989 A.2d 733).
[¶10] To prove attorney malpractice, a plaintiff must show (1) a breach by the defendant of the duty owed to the plaintiff to conform to a certain
[¶11] Professional negligence, in the context of a legal malpractice action, is the failure to use such skill, prudence and diligence as is reasonable according to the standards of ordinarily competent lawyers performing similar services under like conditions. Sohn v. Bernstein, 279 A.2d 529, 532 (Me. 1971).
[¶12] To prove professional negligence, the plaintiff must present expert testimony “to establish the appropriate standard of care and whether an attorney breached that standard of care, except when the breach or lack thereof is so obvious that it may be determined by a court as a matter of law or is within the ordinary knowledge of laymen.” Kurtz & Perry, P.A. v. Emerson, 2010 ME 107, ¶ 26, 8 A.3d 677 (citing Pitt v. Frawley, 1999 ME 5, ¶ 9, 722 A.2d 358).
[¶13] Here, the Pawlendzios allege that Haddow breached a duty owed to them when he failed to protect the loans made by the three personal lenders in connection with the building of the spec house. The Pawlendzios failed, however, to present any expert‘s opinion establishing either the
[¶14] In reviewing a motion for summary judgment, our inquiry is limited to the statement of material facts and the references to the record contained therein. Although we will view the facts in the light most favorable to the Pawlendzios, to defeat a defendant‘s motion for summary judgment, a plaintiff must present evidence sufficient to generate a prima facie case of a legally cognizable claim. Lougee Conservancy v. CitiMortgage, Inc., 2012 ME 103, ¶ 12, 48 A.3d 774. Thus, it is not enough for the Pawlendzios to simply allege, as they did here, that Haddow owed them a duty; Haddow concedes that he did. Rather, the Pawlendzios had the burden of producing expert-based evidence that Haddow in fact breached that duty.
[¶15] The Pawlendzios base their claims on the fact that the loans made to them by friends and relatives lost their protected status as a result of the bankruptcy proceedings, contrary to Haddow‘s advice. The Pawlendzios’
The entry is:
Judgment affirmed.
On the briefs:
Jed Davis, Esq., and Aglaia Davis, Esq., Jim Mitchell and Jed Davis, P.A., Augusta, for appellants Frank and Beverly Pawlendzio
James M. Bowie, Esq., Thompson & Bowie, LLP, Portland, for appellee Jon Haddow
Jed Davis, Esq., for appellants Frank and Beverly Pawlendzio
James M. Bowie, Esq., for appellee Jon Haddow
Penobscot County Superior Court docket number CV-2012-104
FOR CLERK REFERENCE ONLY