# C o u rt o f

A p p ea ls

o f t h e S t a te o f

G eo rg ia

ATLANTA,_

_ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _

Th e Co u rt

o f Ap p ea l s h er eb y p a s s es t h e f

o ll owi n g o r der :

A1 6 A1 98 9 . RES-GA M CDONOUGH, LLC v . TAYLOR ENGLISH DUM A, LLP

et al

.

Becau s e t h i s ap p eal i s wi th i n t he ex cl u s ive a ppe l lat e j u ri sd i ct i o n o f t h e Geo rg i a

Su p rem e Co u rt , we TRANSFER t h e ap p eal t o t h e Su p rem e Co u rt

.
RES-GA McDo n o ug h

, LLC (RES-GA) b ro u g ht a l eg al m al pra c t i ce act i o n

ag ai n s t t h e l aw fi rm o f Tay l o r En g l i s h Du m a, LLP an d i n d i v i du al at t orn ey s J o h n J

.
Ri ch ar d an d D o n al d P. Bo y l e, J r. (t he at t o rn ey s ). Th e act i o n aro s e o u t o f t h e

at t o rn ey s ’ rep res en t at i on o f RES-GA i n a p ri o r act io n to co ll ect a m o u n t s o wed to

RES-GA o n a 2 0 0 6 p ro m i s s ory n o t e an d g u aran t i es o f t h e n o te wh ich were o ri g i n al l y

h el d b y a fed eral l y i n s u red b an k p l aced i n to Fed eral Dep o s i t In s u ran ce Co rp o rat i o n
(FDIC) recei vers h i p

. RES-GA o b t ai n ed t h e n o t e an d g u aran t i es i n 20 1 0 by

as s i g n m en t fro m an FDIC as s i g n ee, M ul ti b an k 2 0 0 9-1 RES -ADC Ven t u re, LLC,

wh i ch was a p l ai n ti ff i n a p en d in g act i o n t o co l l ect o n t he n o t e an d gu aran t i es

. Aft er

b ei n g s u b s t i t u ted as p l ai n t i ff i n t h e p en di n g act io n , RES-GA ad d ed a cl ai m i n 2 0 1 2

ag ai n s t t h e g u aran t or u n d er th e Un i fo rm Frau d u l en t Tran s fers Act (UFTA) (fo rm er

OCGA § 1 8 -2 -7 0 et seq

. ) al l eg i n g th at i n 2 0 0 8 t h e g uaran t o r h ad frau d u l en t l y

t ran s ferred p ro p ert y

. Th e m al p ract i ce act i o n al l eg ed t h at

, b ecau s e t h e at t o r n e ys

n eg li g en t l y han d l ed t h e p ri o r U FTA a c t i o n, RES-GA was d am ag ed b y l o s s o f t h e

ab i l i t y t o co ll ect i t s ju d g m en t o n t h e g u aran t ies b y ex ecu ti o n ag ai n s t p ro p ert y

frau du l en t ly

t ran s ferred b y t h e g u aran t o r. February 06, 2017R E S

- G A a ppeal ed fro m th e tri al co u rt ’ s o rd er d i s m i s s i n g th e m a lpr a c tic e a c tion

o n t h e b as i s t h at RES-GA co u l d n o t p ro v e t h e t h i rd es s en t ial el em en t o f t h e act i o n

–

t h a t t h e l eg al m al p ract i ce i n th e p ri o r UFTA act i o n was t h e pro x i m at e cau s e o f t h e

al l eg ed d am ag e to t he pl ai n t i ff. Lei b el v. Jo h ns o n , 2 9 1 Ga. 1 8 0, 18 1 (7 2 8 SE2 d 5 5 4 )

(2 0 1 2). Bas ed o n t h e ho ld i n g s i n S ecu r it y Feed & S

eed Co

. & c. v. NeS

mi t h

, 2 1 3 Ga.

7 8 3 (1 0 2 SE2 d 3 7) (1 9 5 8 ) an d RES -GA Hi g ht o wer
, LLC v. Go l

s ha n i

, 3 34 Ga. Ap p.

1 7 6

, 1 7 8 -1 8 1 (7 7 8 SE2 d 80 5) (2 0 1 5 ), t he t ri al co u rt ru l ed as a m at t er of l aw: (1 ) t h at

t h e p ro v i s i on s o f OCGA § 4 4-1 2 -2 4 ag ai n s t as s i g n m en t o f frau d a c t i o n s p recl u d ed

RES-GA fro m b r i n g i n g t h e p ri o r UFTA act i o n acq u ired b y as s i g n m en t fro m

M u l t i ban k

, an d (2 ) t h erefo re RES-GA had n o s t an d i n g t o p u rs ue t h e UFTA act i o n

ag ai n s t t h e g u aran t o r an d n o b as i s t o p ro ve t h a t m al p ract i ce i n t h e UFTA act i o n

p ro x im at el y cau s ed t he al leg ed d am ag e.

On ap peal

, RES-GA co n ten d s t h at th e t ri al co u rt erred b y reject i n g it s arg u m en t

t h at i t h a d s t a nd i n g t o bri ng t h e UFTA act i o n b ecau s e t h e fed eral Fi n an ci al

In s t i t u t i o n s R e f

o rm , Reco v ery , an d En fo rcem en t Act o f 1 9 8 9 (FIRREA), 1 as

ap p li cab l e t o t h e FDIC an d s u b s eq u en t as s i g nees M ul t i b an k an d RES-GA, p reem p t s

t h e n o n-as s i g n m en t p ro v i s i o n s o f OCGA § 4 4 -1 2 -2 4

. W e co n cl u d e th at t h e fed e r a l

FIRREA p reem

pt i o n i ss ue rai s ed i n t h i s ap p eal gi v es t h e Su p rem e Co urt o f Geo rg i a

ex cl u s i v e ap p el l a t e j u r i s d i ct i o n

. “ Th e preem p ti o n d oct ri n e i s a p ro d u ct o f t h e

Su p rem acy Cl au s e, s ee U. S. Co n s t., Art

. VI, Cl

. 2

, wh i ch i n v al i d at es s t at e l aws t h at

i n t erfere wi t h

, o r are co n t rary t o , fed eral l aw.” No r f o l k So u th er n R. Co

. v. Zea g l er ,
2 9 3 Ga. 5 8 2

, 5 9 8 (7 4 8 SE2 d 8 4 6 ) (2 0 1 3 ) (ci t at i o n an d pu n ct u at i o n o m i t t ed ). W h et h er

fed eral l aw p reem

p t s a Geo rg i a s t at u t e an d ren d ers t h e s t at u t e u n co n s t i t u t i o nal u n d er

t h e Su p rem acy Cl au s e is an i s s u e t h a t “ b ri n g s t h e ap p eal u nd er [Geo rg i a Su p rem e

1 Pu b

. L. No

. 1 0 1 -7 3

, 10 3 St at

. 1 8 3 (co d i fi ed as am en d ed i n v ari o u s s ect i on s

o f 1 2 USC).Co u rt ] co n s t i t u t i o n al q u es t i o n ju ri s d i ct i o n

. See Ga. Co n s t

. o f 1 9 8 3

, A rt

. VI, Sec. VI,

Par. II (1 ).” Ba b i es R i

g h t S ta rt

, In c. v. Geo r

g i a Dep t

. o

f P ub l i c Hea l t h

, 2 9 3 Ga. 5 5 3,

5 5 4 (7 4 8 SE2 d 4 04 ) ( 2 0 13 ); W a r d v. McFa l l

, 2 7 7 Ga. 6 49

, 65 1 (5 9 3 SE2 d 3 4 0 )

(2 0 0 4).

C o u r t o f A p p e a l s o f t h e S t a t e o

f G e o r g ia

C le r k ’ s O f f i c e
, A t la n t a
,

_

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I c e r ti fy t h a t t h e a b o v e i s a t r u e e x t r a c t f r o m

t h e m i n u t e s o

f t h e C o u r t o

f A p p e a l s o f G e o r g i a

. W i tn e s s m y s i g n a t u r e a n d th e s e a l o

f s a i d c o u r t

h e r e t o a f f i x e d t h e d a y a n d y e a r l a s t a b o v e w r i t t e n

.

, C l e r k

. 02/06/2017