CAMILLE E. DEAN, DAVID H. DEAN, JR., AND ROBERT J. BURNS, SR., CO-PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ESTATE OF DAVID H. DEAN, SR.; AND CAMILLE E. DEAN AND DAVID H. DEAN, JR., INDIVIDUALLY AND AS BENEFICIARIES OF THE ESTATE OF DAVID H. DEAN, SR. v. JOHN T. BONDURANT, WINSTON E. MILLER, AND FROST BROWN TODD, LLC, (AS A STAND ALONE ENTITY AND AS SUCCESSOR IN INTEREST TO BROWN, TODD, & HEYBURN, PLLC, AND BROWN, TODD, & HEYBURN, A PARTNERSHIP) AND ITS PREDECESSORS IN INTEREST, BROWN, TODD, & HEYBURN, PLLC, AND BROWN, TODD, & HEYBURN, A PARTNERSHIP
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
RENDERED:
OCTOBER 7, 2005; 2:00 P.M.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
Commonwealth Of Kentucky
Court of Appeals
NO. 2004-CA-001345-MR
CAMILLE E. DEAN, DAVID H. DEAN, JR.,
AND ROBERT J. BURNS, SR., CO-PERSONAL
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ESTATE OF DAVID H.
DEAN, SR.; AND CAMILLE E. DEAN AND DAVID
H. DEAN, JR., INDIVIDUALLY AND AS
BENEFICIARIES OF THE ESTATE OF
DAVID H. DEAN, SR.
APPELLANTS
v.
APPEAL FROM JEFFERSON CIRCUIT COURT
HONORABLE JUDITH E. McDONALD-BURKMAN, JUDGE
ACTION NOS. 00-CI-005764 AND 01-CI-007505
JOHN T. BONDURANT, WINSTON E. MILLER,
AND FROST BROWN TODD, LLC, (AS A STAND
ALONE ENTITY AND AS SUCCESSOR IN INTEREST
TO BROWN, TODD, & HEYBURN, PLLC, AND
BROWN, TODD, & HEYBURN, A PARTNERSHIP)
AND ITS PREDECESSORS IN INTEREST, BROWN,
TODD, & HEYBURN, PLLC, AND BROWN, TODD, &
HEYBURN, A PARTNERSHIP
APPELLEES
OPINION
AFFIRMING
** ** ** ** **
BEFORE:
1
BARBER AND JOHNSON, JUDGES; MILLER, SENIOR JUDGE. 1
Senior Judge John D. Miller sitting as Special Judge by assignment of the
Chief Justice pursuant to Section 110(5)(b) of the Kentucky Constitution and
Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) 21.580.
JOHNSON, JUDGE:
Camille E. Dean, David H. Dean, Jr., and Robert
J. Burns, Sr., as co-personal representatives of the Estate of
David H. Dean, Sr., and Camille and David, Jr., as beneficiaries
of the Estate of David H. Dean, Sr., (collectively the
appellants) have appealed from the May 7, 2004, order of the
Jefferson Circuit Court which granted summary judgment to John T.
Bondurant, Winston E. Miller, and Frost Brown Todd, LLC
(collectively the attorneys).
Having concluded that there is no
genuine issue as to any material fact regarding the legal cause
of the appellants’ alleged damages, and that the attorneys are
entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law, we affirm.
David H. Dean, Sr. 2 and his company, Dean Tire and
Rubber, were clients of Frost Brown Todd (FBT) for many years. 3
In late 1986 Dean was contemplating a second marriage to Rosalind
Syfret Brooks (now Dean, but for clarity hereinafter referred to
as “Brooks”).
In preparation for his marriage to Brooks, Dean
requested his attorney, Henry Heyburn of FBT, to prepare an
antenuptial agreement for his benefit and protection. 4
2
Dean was the father of appellants, Camille Dean and David H. Dean, Jr.
3
Frost Brown Todd, LLC, is a Kentucky Limited Liability Corporation, operating
as a law firm with its principal offices located in Louisville, Jefferson
County, Kentucky. Frost Brown Todd, LLC, is the successor in interest to
Brown, Todd and Heyburn, PLLC, and Brown, Todd and Heyburn, a partnership.
4
Brooks had the independent advice of counsel during the drafting of the
antenuptial agreement.
-2-
On February 3, 1987, Dean and Brooks executed the
“Antenuptial Agreement/Waiver” as prepared by FBT and were
married.
Paragraph 10(a) of the Agreement provided as follows:
10.
Transfers to Ms. Brooks upon Mr. Dean’s
Death. Mr. Dean agrees that if he and Ms.
Brooks are living together as husband and
wife at his death he will leave to Ms.
Brooks the following:
(a)
Either his residence in Kentucky or his
residence in Florida, whichever Mrs. [sic]
Brooks may choose, provided however, that
if Mr. Dean has previously made either of
the alternative conveyances to Mrs. [sic]
Brooks just referred to, prior to his
death, this paragraph (a) shall not
apply[.]
The only provision in the agreement restricting the transfer of
property was Paragraph 12, and it provided that only transfers
between Dean and Brooks were subject to restriction.
However,
Paragraph 12(a) contained a double negative which hinders its
clarity and enforceability.
Paragraph 12(a) of the Agreement
provided:
12.
Restrictions upon Transfers between Mr. Dean
and Ms. Brooks. After their contemplated
marriage, Mr. Dean and Ms. Brooks further
agree that:
(a)
During their lives, no transfer of
property having a value in excess of
Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) as to
each such transfer, with the exception
of clothing, jewelry and motor cars,
from one of them to (or for the benefit
of) the other of them for less than a
full consideration in money or money’s
worth (including transfers of property
-3-
into their joint names with right of
survivorship) shall not be valid or
enforceable unless evidenced by an
instrument in writing which is signed
by the transferor and which contains a
certificate to the effect that it has
been acknowledged by the transferor
before a notary public (whether or not
such a notarized instrument is
otherwise required to accomplish such a
transfer) [emphases added].
In the late 1980s Dean learned that FBT had failed to
make a Subchapter “S” election for his business.
As a result of
this, Dean terminated his business relationship with FBT and
became a client of Greenebaum, Doll, and McDonald, P.L.L.C.
(Greenebaum).
John Cummins, an attorney at Greenebaum, was
retained by Dean and prepared Dean’s estate plan, including a
trust agreement as well as his Last Will and Testament.
Following Dean terminating FBT’s representation in the late
1980s, FBT did not perform any legal services for Dean, his
company, his children, or his family until after his death.
In March 1996 Dean and Brooks jointly acquired a
residence at 10320 U.S. Highway 42 in Jefferson County, Kentucky,
with the title held by Dean and Brooks as joint tenants with
right of survivorship.
On October 26, 1998, Dean and Brooks
acquired another tract of real property in Jefferson County,
Kentucky, located on Wolf Pen Branch Road.
The special warranty
deed to the Wolf Pen Branch property stated that the property was
conveyed by Ian Y. Henderson, a trustee, to Dean and Brooks “for
-4-
their joint lives, with remainder in fee simple[.]”
Dean and
Brooks signed the deed verifying the consideration and both of
their signatures were notarized.
On May 11, 1999, Dean executed his Last Will and
Testament, as prepared by Cummins of Greenebaum.
Paragraph 2.7
of the will provided, as follows:
2.7
I am making no provision for my spouse
regarding my primary residence in Kentucky or
Florida pursuant to our Antenuptial Agreement
dated February 3, 1987 (“Antenuptial
Agreement”). I have satisfied my obligations
under Paragraph 10(a) of the said Antenuptial
Agreement by arranging title to my Kentucky
residence as joint tenants with right of
survivorship with my spouse, subject to any
mortgage thereon, with her full knowledge and
consent.
Further, Paragraph 7.2 of Dean’s will provided, as follows:
7.2
I have entered into the Antenuptial Agreement
(as defined hereinabove) with my spouse. I
direct my personal representative to take all
actions necessary to comply with, and to
enforce, its provisions in accordance with the
terms of the Antenuptial Agreement.
At the time of Dean’s death, 5 on February 8, 2000,
construction had begun on a residence on the Wolf Pen Branch
property, however, it was still nine months away from completion.
On February 12, 2000, the day after Dean’s funeral, Cummins
informed the appellants that Brooks would receive title to both
5
Before Dean died, but while he was in the hospital, he endorsed a check for
$500,000.00 which he withdrew from his securities account to be deposited into
a building account in order for the Wolf Pen Branch Road residence to be
completed.
-5-
properties located in Kentucky.
Cummins stated that he and Dean
had several conversations regarding the Wolf Pen Branch property,
and that during these conversations, Dean reaffirmed his desire
to take title to the Wolf Pen Branch Property in his and Brooks’s
joint names.
He claimed Dean did this in order to avoid having
to rewrite the deed to place the property in their joint names
once the U.S. Highway 42 property was sold. 6
According to
Cummins, Dean did not want to renegotiate the terms of the
antenuptial agreement and he clearly understood that Brooks might
receive both Kentucky properties.
Following the conversation with the other appellants
and Cummins, Camille discovered that Greenebaum had previously
represented Brooks and her son in preparing an estate plan. 7
Based on this information, the appellants decided to terminate
Greenebaum and Cummins’s representation of the Dean estate
because they perceived this to be a conflict of interest.
The
appellants then retained Bruce Dudley and his law firm, Ogden
6
This conversation occurred on October 1, 1998, as reflected in the note
drafted by Cummins. Cummins testified that a second conversation between Dean
and him occurred on October 15, 1998, in which Dean expressed the same desire
to place the property in his and Brooks’s joint names to minimize the confusion
once the U.S. Highway 42 property was sold.
7
Camille testified that she discovered this information by going to Dean’s
office and searching through his files.
-6-
Newell and Welch, to represent the interests of the Dean estate.
On March 9, 2000, probate of the estate began in Florida. 8
Meanwhile, Brooks retained John T. Bondurant, an
attorney at FBT, to insure that she would receive her share of
the Dean estate.
Dudley openly and freely negotiated with
Bondurant in an effort to resolve the disputes between the
appellants and Brooks.
After several months of negotiations
between Bondurant and Dudley, Bondurant raised the issue that
Dudley may have a conflict of interest because he represented
both the personal representatives of the estate, as well as the
Dean children, who were seeking to administer the estate for
their personal benefit.
On or about the first of July 2000, the
Dean children retained Robert Hallenberg of Woodward Hobson and
Fulton, to represent their interests as beneficiaries.
Thus,
Dudley represented the Dean estate and Hallenberg represented the
Dean children, and both of these attorneys continued to negotiate
with Bondurant without raising any allegations of him having a
conflict.
On September 8, 2000, the appellants filed a complaint
for the declaration of rights between the estate and its
beneficiaries in both Jefferson County, Kentucky, 9 and in the
8
While Dean died in Jefferson County, Kentucky, his domicile was in Florida
where his estate was probated. An ancillary administration of the Dean estate
was filed in Jefferson County, Kentucky, on September 5, 2000.
9
No. 00-CI-05764.
-7-
Circuit Court for Palm Beach County, Florida. 10
In the complaint,
the appellants asked the Jefferson Circuit Court to determine
whether the Wolf Pen Branch property should be included as a part
of the Dean estate for distribution among the beneficiaries,
including the co-personal representatives.
On October 2, 2000, Bondurant filed an answer on behalf
of Brooks in the Jefferson Circuit Court which, among other
defenses, argued:
39.
Subparagraph (a) of Paragraph 12 of the
Antenuptial Agreement is so ambiguous
and internally inconsistent as to be
unenforceable.
Thus, Bondurant argued that the language in the antenuptial
agreement was deficient despite the fact that it had been
prepared for Dean by his own law firm, FBT, 13 years earlier.
Following the filing of the responsive pleadings,
Bondurant continued to negotiate with both Dudley and Hallenberg
in an attempt to resolve the conflicts between the appellants and
Brooks.
At no time did the appellants assert that Bondurant or
FBT had a conflict of interest because of their representation of
Brooks.
However, on November 11, 2000, the contingent
10
No. CP 00-1094. Although both parties spend a great deal of time discussing
the Florida action in their briefs, the Florida action is inconsequential to
this Court’s review.
-8-
beneficiaries, 11 moved to disqualify Bondurant and FBT because of
an alleged conflict. 12
Bondurant asked Dudley and Hallenberg to
waive this conflict, but they refused.
On December 28, 2000,
Bondurant and FBT withdrew from the case rather than challenging
the attempt to have them disqualified.
Brooks subsequently
retained new counsel.
On October 1, 2001, the appellants and Brooks mediated
the dispute, and a tentative settlement agreement was reached.
The trial court, in an order entered on May 14, 2002, approved
the settlement agreement reached by the parties concerning the
disposition of the Wolf Pen Branch property. 13
11
The contingent beneficiaries include Helen Dean, Robert A. Dean, Jr., and
Minnie Dean. They were represented by Sandra Bennett and are also former
clients of FBT.
12
The motion alleged a conflict because FBT prepared the antenuptial agreement
at Dean’s request, and by representing Brooks it was now representing a party
with an interest adverse to the antenuptial agreement.
13
The settlement agreement provided that the Wolf Pen Branch property, which
was recognized as being held in Brooks’s sole name, was to be deeded 50 percent
to Brooks and 50 percent to the marital trust consistent with Dean’s will. The
Wolf Pen Branch property was to be held by Brooks and the marital trust as
tenants in common, but with no rights of survivorship. Brooks was to have the
sole use of the Wolf Pen Branch property during her lifetime or until she chose
to sell it and she could not alienate her interest in the Wolf Pen Branch
property. If the property was not sold during Brooks’s lifetime, the property
was to be sold upon her death. Upon any sale of the Wolf Pen Branch property,
the net proceeds were to be divided 50 percent to Brooks or her estate and 50
percent to the marital trust. All proceeds of the sale were to be held by the
trust and Brooks was to receive all income from its prudent investment in
monthly or quarterly installments during her lifetime with no encroachment on
the trust principal. Upon Brooks’s death, all remaining trust proceeds were to
be paid to the Dean children.
-9-
On November 7, 2001, the appellants filed an amended
complaint in the underlying declaratory action. 14
The amended
complaint alleged, among other things, that the attorneys owed
“Dean, his Estate, and his foreseeable and intended beneficiaries
the degree of care and skill of professional conduct ordinarily
and customarily provided by members of the legal profession.”
The complaint alleged the attorneys committed three acts of legal
negligence:
(1) the attorneys argued that the antenuptial
agreement, which had been prepared by FBT, was ambiguous and
unenforceable; (2) the attorneys represented Brooks in a matter
which was substantially related but adverse to their former
client’s interests; and (3) the attorneys prepared a legal
document that contained a double negative and later argued that
the document was void and unenforceable.
The complaint alleged
the appellants incurred damages because of the attorneys’
negligence in drafting the antenuptial agreement, which resulted
in the Wolf Pen Branch property being excluded from the assets of
the estate.
On December 17, 2003, the attorneys filed a motion for
summary judgment asserting that the appellants failed to state a
claim for breach of ethical obligations and that the attorneys’
14
A separate action alleging the same legal negligence was commenced by the
Dean children as beneficiaries of the estate, styled Camille E. Dean, et. al.
v. John T. Bondurant, et. al., in the Jefferson Circuit Court, Division 13, 07CI-07505. This action was later consolidated with the senior Division 11
action.
-10-
actions were not the legal cause of the damages suffered by the
appellants.
Following multiple briefings and oral arguments, the
trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the attorneys in
an order entered on May 7, 2004.
On May 17, 2004, the appellants
filed a motion to vacate the trial court’s judgment.
Then, on
June 7, 2004, the appellants filed a motion requesting the trial
judge to recuse herself.
On June 10, 2004, the trial court
entered two orders, one denying the appellants’ motion to vacate
and the other denying the appellants’ motion to recuse.
This
appeal followed.
The standard of review governing an appeal of a summary
judgment is well-settled.
We must determine whether the trial
court erred in concluding that there was no genuine issue as to
any material fact and that the moving party was entitled to a
judgment as a matter of law. 15
Summary judgment is appropriate
“if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories,
stipulations, and admissions on file, together with the
affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any
material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment
as a matter of law.” 16
In Paintsville Hospital Co. v. Rose, 17 the
Supreme Court of Kentucky held that for summary judgment to be
15
Scifres v. Kraft, 916 S.W.2d 779, 781 (Ky.App. 1996).
16
Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure (CR) 56.03.
17
683 S.W.2d 255, 256 (Ky. 1985).
-11-
proper the movant must show that the adverse party cannot prevail
under any circumstances.
The Court has also stated that “the
proper function of summary judgment is to terminate litigation
when, as a matter of law, it appears that it would be impossible
for the respondent to produce evidence at the trial warranting a
judgment in his favor.” 18
There is no requirement that the
appellate court defer to the trial court since factual findings
are not at issue. 19
“The record must be viewed in a light most
favorable to the party opposing the motion for summary judgment
and all doubts are to be resolved in his favor” [citation
omitted]. 20
Furthermore, “a party opposing a properly supported
summary judgment motion cannot defeat it without presenting at
least some affirmative evidence showing that there is a genuine
issue of material fact for trial.” 21
In a legal negligence action, as in all negligence
actions, the burden is on the plaintiff to prove duty, breach of
duty, causation, and damage. 22
In the case before us, the parties
18
Steelvest, Inc. v. Scansteel Service Center, Inc., 807 S.W.2d 476, 480 (Ky.
1991).
19
Goldsmith v. Allied Building Components, Inc., 833 S.W.2d 378, 381 (Ky.
1992).
20
21
Steelvest, 807 S.W.2d at 480.
Id. at 482.
1995).
See also Philipps, Kentucky Practice, CR 56.03, p. 321 (5th ed.
22
Stephens v. Denison, 64 S.W.3d 297, 298-99 (Ky.App. 2001) (citing Daugherty
v. Runner, 581 S.W.2d 12, 16 (Ky.App. 1978)).
-12-
agree that Daugherty, 23 properly sets forth the elements for a
claim of legal negligence:
As stated by the author in Wade, The
Attorney’s Liability for Negligence, 12
Vand.L.Rev. 755, 762 (1959), the standard of
care is generally composed of two elements—
care and skill. The first has to do with
care and diligence which the attorney must
exercise. The second is concerned with the
minimum degree of skill and knowledge which
the attorney must display.
In determining whether that degree of
care and skill exercised by the attorney in a
given case meets the requirements of the
standard of care aforementioned, the
attorney’s act, or failure to act, is judged
by the degree of its departure from the
quality of professional conduct customarily
provided by members of the legal profession
[citation omitted].
As it would be in negligence cases
generally, the question of whether the
conduct of the attorney meets the standard of
care test is one for the trier of the facts
to determine [citations omitted]. 24
The issue before us on appeal has been somewhat
mischaracterized as whether the issue of causation is a question
of fact or a question of law.
As noted by the appellants,
generally a legal negligence action is no different from any
other action for negligence, i.e., questions of fact, including
the question of causation, are for the jury to decide.
However,
as the attorneys correctly argue, even when all the facts are
23
581 S.W.2d at 12.
24
Id. at 16.
-13-
viewed in the light most favorable to the appellants, as a matter
of law there are no facts to support the appellants’ claim that
the attorneys’ alleged breach of duty was the legal cause of the
appellants’ alleged damages.
The trial court granted summary judgment after
determining that upon Dean’s death, legal title to the Wolf Pen
Branch property passed to Brooks under the deed’s right of
survivorship provision regardless of the antenuptial agreement’s
Paragraph 12(a).
The trial court, in its order dated May 7,
2004, stated:
The existence of [Paragraph 12], despite its
ambiguity, must be considered in light of the
deed to the Wolf Pen Branch property (the asset
at issue herein). That property was transferred
to David Dean Sr. and Rosalind Dean jointly, with
rights of survivorship on October 26, 1998 from
the executor of the estate of one Elbert Gary
Sutcliffe (recorded at Deed Book 7129, page 190192, Jefferson County, Kentucky). This property
was never owned solely by David Dean Sr. or
Rosalind Dean. Further, there is no subsequent
transfer of their individual interest from either
of them to the other. Title to the property
remained the same from October 26, 1998 to the
date of Mr. Dean’s death.
If paragraph 12(a) is so ambiguous as to
render that provision void, the Antenuptial
Agreement would remain valid and enforceable
except as to that provision (see paragraph 15,
Antenuptial Agreement) and the agreement would be
construed and enforced as if it did not include
paragraph 12(a).
Regardless of the language of this
paragraph, the Deed to the property is
controlling. Paragraph 12(a) (despite its
-14-
problems) would only apply to the Wolf Pen Branch
property if one of the parties (either Mr. Dean
or Rosalind Dean) transferred the property or any
interest in the property, to the other of them.
The plain language of paragraph 12(a) makes it
clear that a transfer from a third party to them
jointly is not contemplated. Paragraph 12(a)
simply does not apply in this case and therefore
the Court need not attempt to determine its
validity or enforceability, nor construe its
meaning in light of the double negatives
contained therein.
The Plaintiffs’ claims also include legal
malpractice based on violations of SCR Code of
Professional Responsibility. The Court is
unaware of any authority supporting this type of
cause of action. In fact, Hill v. Willmont,
Ky.App., 561 S.W.2d 331 (1978) addressed a
similar issue and declared that the sole remedy
for such violations lies with the Kentucky Bar
Association.
Assuming the Plaintiffs have or can meet
their burden of proof as to two of the elements
for malpractice (duty and breach), they [cannot]
satisfy the remaining two elements (proximate
cause and damages). 25 As addressed earlier
herein, the deed to the Wolf Pen Branch property
controls. It was not drafted by the Defendants;
it clearly reflected the intent of the parties to
it; and it clearly transferred to David and
Rosalind Dean, the Wolf Pen Branch property
jointly with rights of survivorship. This deed
is the proximate cause of Plaintiffs’ “damages”
(the property and attorney fees), not any portion
of the Antenuptial [A]greement.
There simply is no genuine issue of material
fact and, even considering the facts in a light
most favorable to the Plaintiffs, the Plaintiffs
would not be able to produce sufficient evidence
at trial warranting a verdict in their favor.
The Defendants are entitled to judgment as a
matter of law.
25
We question the trial court’s reference to damages, but otherwise agree with
its analysis.
-15-
We agree with the trial court that the language
contained in the deed to the Wolf Pen Branch property controls
the ownership of the property.
The deed stated that the “Party
of the First Part hereby conveys to the Party of the Second Part,
for their joint lives, with remainder in fee simple . . . .”
Therefore, upon the death of either Dean or Brooks, the surviving
spouse would receive through the survivorship clause the title to
the property in fee simple. 26
Based upon the language contained
in the deed conveying the property to both Dean and Brooks, title
to the Wolf Pen Branch property properly passed to Brooks
notwithstanding the restriction in Paragraph 12 of the
antenuptial agreement.
Therefore, the double negative in
Paragraph 12(a) of the antenuptial agreement was not the legal
cause of the alleged damages suffered by the appellants.
Thus,
even if the antenuptial agreement had been free of linguistic
flaws, title to the Wolf Pen Branch property would have passed by
the deed’s survivorship clause to Brooks as opposed to reverting
to the Dean estate.
The purpose of the restrictions in Paragraph
12 of the antenuptial agreement was to prevent Brooks from
claiming after Dean’s death that he had transferred certain
assets to her.
Under Paragraph 12(a) no transfer between the
parties of real estate having a value in excess of $10,000.00
26
KRS 381.050(2); Nelson v. Mahurin, 994 S.W.2d 10 (Ky.App. 1998).
-16-
would be valid unless the writing complied with the terms of the
agreement.
The two parcels of real estate at issue herein were
not transferred between Dean and Brooks, and thus as a matter of
law the provisions in Paragraph 12, regardless of any ambiguity,
did not apply to those transfers.
In summary, this case presents questions of law on two
levels.
First, “[g]enerally, the issue of the standard of care
and the existence of a duty are legal questions; where as the
breach of a duty and causation are factual issues.
However,
where only one reasonable conclusion can be reached, a court may
decide the issue of causation as a matter of law” [citations
omitted]. 27
Second, our construction and interpretation of the
antenuptial agreement is a matter of law. 28
Therefore, since we
conclude as a matter of law that Paragraph 12 of the antenuptial
agreement has no applicability to the conveyance of the Wolf Pen
Branch property, as a matter of law, the attorneys’ alleged
breach of duty was not the legal cause of the appellants’ alleged
damage.
Accordingly, we agree with the trial court that the
antenuptial agreement did not apply to the Wolf Pen Branch
property; therefore, any alleged negligence by the attorneys was
not the legal cause of any damages suffered by the appellants
when the Wolf Pen Branch property passed to Brooks by
27
Lewis v. B & R Corp., 56 S.W.3d 432, 438 (Ky.App. 2001).
28
Cinelli v. Ward, 997 S.W.2d 474, 476 (Ky. 1998) (stating that the
construction and interpretation of a written instrument are questions of law).
-17-
survivorship rather than to the estate.
Thus, the trial court
properly granted summary judgment to the attorneys.
Having concluded that there is no factual basis for the
claim that acts by the attorneys during their representation of
Brooks, or in the drafting of the antenuptial agreement, was the
legal cause of any damage the appellants suffered as a result of
the title to the Wolf Pen Branch property and the U.S. Highway 42
property passing to Brooks by the right of survivorship in the
deeds, the trial court’s summary judgment in favor of the
attorneys is affirmed.
BARBER, JUDGE, CONCURS.
MILLER, SENIOR JUDGE, CONCURS IN RESULT ONLY.
BRIEFS FOR APPELLANTS:
BRIEF FOR APPELLEES:
Peter F. Ervin
Sandra L. Bennett
Louisville, Kentucky
James E. Milliman
Rebecca Grady Jennings
Louisville, Kentucky
ORAL ARGUMENT FOR APPELLANTS:
ORAL ARGUMENT FOR APPELLEES:
Peter F. Ervin
Louisville, Kentucky
James E. Milliman
Louisville, Kentucky
-18-
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.