Johnson v. Alexander, Opinion No. 5208
On March 19, 2014, the South Carolina Court of Appeals issued an opinion in a legal malpractice action, Amber Johnson v. Stanley E. Alexander, Mario S. Inglese, and Charles Feeley. The Court of Appeal reversed a trial court order on summary judgment finding that attorney Stanley Alexander committed legal malpractice in closing a real estate transaction. In this case, Mr. Alexander relied on a title examination prepared by another attorney that failed to disclose that the property was subject to a tax sale based on the delinquent taxes. Is so reasoning, the Court of Appeals agreed that a genuine issue of material fact existed as to whether Mr. Alexander was reasonable in relying upon the title examination that was conducted by another attorney. The case held that relying on a bad title examination does not create legal malpractice as a matter of law.
Trial Attorneys Joel W. Collins and Robert F. Goings represented the prevailing party on appeal, attorney Stanley Alexander.
