A plaintiff normally cannot recover damages for fraud in a breach of contract action, but, in a recent major commercial case, a successful plaintiff was able to add nearly $350,000 to its eventual recovery by successfully adding and proving a fraud count to its original complaint, based on information the defendant revealed for the first time during discovery. Nebo Ventures, LLC v. NovaPro Risk Solutions, LP (Fulton County Sup. Ct., (2012CV202767).

A failed guarantee on a failed Costa Rican real estate venture was the key document for a Fulton County State Court jury’s consideration in a recent legal malpractice case; Eli Peretz and Dr. Nick Gabbay v. S. Alan Cohn et al. (12EV015232). In 2008, plaintiffs Peretz and Dr. Gabbay loaned $1.5 million to a company that planned to use the money to develop a resort in Costa Rica. However, following the economic downturn later that year, the development failed and the loan was never repaid.

In some trials, an attorney’s opening or closing statement or the examination of a key witness makes the difference in the jury’s ultimate verdict. In the recent Fulton County Superior Court case of Dina Andrews v. Percy Bady (2013CV230964), however, a decision by Judge Robert McBurney on the admissibility of one document under the new Georgia Evidence Code may well have been the deciding factor.

Atlanta, GA—A Fulton County State Court jury awarded over $1.5 million to two men who lost their entire investment in a failed Costa Rican resort real estate venture and then brought a legal malpractice action against their real estate attorney. Eli Peretz et al. v. S. Alan Cohn et al. (12EV015232).