Evans v. Hamby

Summary

The Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment against Jerry Evans in his legal-malpractice action against Michael Hamby and the Walters Law Firm. The court held that Evans was estopped from asserting usury because he and his brother selected the interest rate and failed to rebut the evidence supporting estoppel. It also held that Hamby’s failure to advise Evans to reinstate Northwest’s corporate charter could not support malpractice liability because the retroactive application of the relevant statute was unsettled and presumed prospective.

Holdings

1. Summary judgment for the attorneys was proper because Evans was estopped from asserting usury where the undisputed evidence showed that he and his brother selected the interest rate, the lender relied on their selection, and Evans failed to produce proof creating a genuine issue concerning estoppel.
2. Summary judgment for the attorneys was proper because Evans could not establish that Hamby's failure to advise him to seek reinstatement of Northwest's charter fell below the professional standard of care or proximately caused his damages when the retroactive application of Act 522 was unsettled.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the attorneys' failure to assert usury in the underlying promissory-note action supported Evans's legal-malpractice claim.
2. Whether the attorneys' failure to advise Evans to reinstate Northwest's corporate charter supported a legal-malpractice claim based on the retroactive effect of Arkansas Code Annotated section 26-54-112.

Disposition

affirmed