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Bryant v. Robledo6/30/2005
000 as a result of relying on his statements. The Bryants attempted in the trial court to explain the statements or to characterize them as only potentially "promissory fraud," but they offered no substantial evidence to rebut the Robledos' contention.
Regardless of the whether the Robledos' breach-of-contract claim was viable, we conclude that the Robledos presented substantial evidence that they relied on a misrepresentation of James Bryant to their financial detriment in the amount of $15,000 so as to defeat the Bryants' summary-judgment motion as it pertained to claims asserted against James Bryant. Therefore, although the trial court erred in entering a summary judgment against Beth Bryant, we conclude that the trial court properly entered the summary judgment against James Bryant and in favor of the Robledos on their fraud claim in this case.
AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART; AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.
Crawley, P.J., concurs.
Thompson, J., concurs in the result, without writing.
Murdock, J., concurs in the result, with writing.
Bryan, J., concurs in the result in part and dissents in part, with writing.
MURDOCK, Judge, concurring in the result.
Section 6-5-572(1), Ala. Code 1975, defines a legal-services-liability action as one based, in whole or in part, on a violation by a legal-service provider of the standard of care applicable to a legal-service provider. It then goes on to state:
"A legal service liability action embraces all claims for injuries or damages or wrongful death whether in contract or in tort and whether based on an intentional or unintentional act or omission. A legal services liability action embraces any form of action in which a litigant may seek legal redress for a wrong or an injury and every legal theory of recovery, whether common law or statutory, available to a litigant in a court in the State of Alabama now or in the future. "
As both the main opinion and Judge Bryan's special writing point out, if there is to be a claim under the Alabama Legal Services Liability Act, ยง 6-5-570 et seq., Ala. Code 1975, there must be an attorney-client relationship. That this is a correct statement of law, however, does not foreclose the possibility of a contract in which "party A" contracts with "party B," an attorney, to provide legal services to "party C." "Party C" would simply be the third-party beneficiary of the contract entered into directly between "party A" and the attorney.
The fact that under such an arrangement there would be an attorney-client relationship between the attorney and "party C," would not change the fact that "party A" may have an action in contract against the attorney if the attorney breaches his promise to "party A" to provide legal services to "party C." Likewise, the fact that there would be an attorney-client relationship between the attorney and "party C" would not prevent "party A" from bringing an action in tort against the attorney in the event the attorney fraudulently induced "party A" to enter into the above-described contract or to pay the attorney a sum of money thereunder.
Unless the trial court abused its discretion in not permitting Bryant to withdraw or amend the admissions that resulted from his not responding timely to the Robledos' request for admissions (which Bryant has not argued), Bryant's admissions are conclusively binding on him. Rule 36(b), Ala. R. Civ. P., specifically says that " ny matter admitted under this rule is conclusively established unless the court on motion permits withdrawal or amendment of the admission." Among the matters therefore "conclusively established"
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