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Bodana v. Brinkley

Supreme Court of Alabama
Jan 29, 1993
614 So. 2d 981 (Ala. 1993)

Opinion

1911450.

November 6, 1992. Rehearing Denied January 29, 1993.

Appeal from the Madison Circuit Court, No. CV-92-45, Daniel B. Banks, Jr., J.

Anji Reddy Bodana, pro se.

J. Allen Brinkley of Brinkley, Chesnut Aldridge, Huntsville, for appellee.


Anji Reddy Bodana brought an action alleging legal malpractice against J. Allen Brinkley, Robert H. Ford, Richard E. Chestnut, and Daniel F. Aldridge (hereinafter "the attorneys"). The attorneys moved for a summary judgment; the trial court granted the motion. Bodana appeals, prose.

The attorneys supported their motion for summary judgment with an affidavit from Brinkley, as an expert; his affidavit stated that the attorneys had performed legal services for Bodana according to the standards of skill and diligence required of attorneys in the Madison County area. Bodana offered no affidavit or deposition of an expert with his response to the attorneys' motion for summary judgment. For a plaintiff in a legal malpractice action to defeat a motion for summary judgment filed by the attorney and supported by an expert's affidavit, the plaintiff must "come forward with expert testimony to show negligence on the part of the attorney." See Phillips v. Alonzo, 435 So.2d 1266, 1267 (Ala.), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 984, 104 S.Ct. 430, 78 L.Ed.2d 363 (1983). Because Bodana failed to file an expert's affidavit, we affirm on the authority of Phillips, supra; Tidwell v. Waldrop, 554 So.2d 1009, 1010 (Ala. 1989); and Rice v. Hartman, Fawal Spina, 582 So.2d 464 (Ala. 1991).

AFFIRMED.

HORNSBY, C.J., and ADAMS, STEAGALL and KENNEDY, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Bodana v. Brinkley

Supreme Court of Alabama
Jan 29, 1993
614 So. 2d 981 (Ala. 1993)
Case details for

Bodana v. Brinkley

Case Details

Full title:Anji Reddy BODANA v. J. Allen BRINKLEY, et al

Court:Supreme Court of Alabama

Date published: Jan 29, 1993

Citations

614 So. 2d 981 (Ala. 1993)

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