Village Nurseries, L.P. v. Greenbaum

In this legal malpractice action, plaintiff Village Nurseries appeals from a summary judgment entered in favor of defendants Martin Greenbaum, Dennis Ferentz, Greenbaum & Ferentz (collectively the Greenbaum defendants), Raymond King, and The Coulombe Law Firm. The trial court granted the Greenbaum defendants motion for summary judgment on the ground that plaintiffs claims were barred by the judgmental immunity doctrine. In order to establish judgmental immunity, a defendant must prove (1) the law was unsettled at the time professional advice was rendered and (2) the advice was based upon the exercise of informed judgment. Because neither the Greenbaum defendants nor The Coulombe Law Firm showed they exercised informed judgment when they rendered professional advice to Village Nurseries, they failed to establish the second prong of the judgmental immunity test and were not entitled to summary judgment on that basis.