Estate of Edward Fleming v. David Nicholson

Summary

The Supreme Court of Vermont affirmed partial summary judgment holding an attorney negligent as a matter of law for failing to disclose a subdivision-permit violation he discovered while performing a title search, and affirmed the resulting award of $55,766.00 in damages plus $59,695.60 in prejudgment interest. It held that expert testimony on the standard of care was unnecessary because the attorney's lack of care was apparent from common knowledge, and that majority practice among Vermont attorneys does not conclusively define reasonableness, which courts must ultimately set. It further held that a trial court retains discretion to award prejudgment interest to avoid injustice even where damages are not readily ascertainable, and found no abuse of discretion in measuring damages by the difference between the 1988 purchase price and the 1995 foreclosure-sale price.