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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE AT KNOXVILLE May 2000 Session WILLIAM JAMES LOGAN v. HEISKELL WINSTEAD
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Hawkins County No. 5023J John K. Wilson, Judge

No. E1999-01056-SC-R11-CV - Filed July 21, 2000 FOR PUBLICATION This appeal arises from a prisoner's pro se action for legal malpractice against the attorney who represented him in criminal court on the charges underlying his sentence. The attorney filed a motion for summary judgment supported by an expert affidavit. The prisoner, relying upon Whisnant v. Byrd, 525 S.W.2d 152 (Tenn. 1975), filed a motion to hold the proceedings in abeyance until he was released from prison and able to appear in court. The trial court failed to rule on the motion for abeyance. The trial court entered summary judgment in favor of the attorney on the grounds that the prisoner had not offered an expert affidavit to rebut the attorney's proof. The Court of Appeals upheld the judgment. We granted review to determine under what circumstances an incarcerated plaintiff is entitled to have a civil action held in abeyance until he or she is released from custody. We have determined that a plaintiff in prison has no absolute right to have civil proceedings stayed or to be present during civil litigation. Accordingly, we overrule Whisnant to the extent that it may be interpreted to stand for that proposition. Instead, we hold that an abeyance should be granted by the trial court only when reasonable under the circumstances, in light of several competing interests. Because the trial court in this case failed to consider Mr. Logan's motion to hold his case in abeyance, we remand this case to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. Tenn. R. App. P. 11 Appeal by Permission; Judgment of the Trial Court and Court of Appeals Affirmed in Part; Reversed in Part; and Remanded FRANK F. DROWOTA, III, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which E. RILEY ANDERSON, C.J., ADOLPHO A. BIRCH JR, JANICE M. HOLDER & WILLIAM M. BARKER, JJ. joined. Kenneth F. Irvine, Jr., Eldridge & Irvine, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellant, William James Logan. Thomas L. Kilday and Thomas J. Garland, Milligan &Coleman, Greeneville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Heiskell Winstead. OPINION

Factual Background On April 12, 1996, pursuant to a search warrant obtained in connection with information from a confidential informant, Hawkins County police officers searched the home of the appellant, William J. Logan. During the search they recovered several zip-lock bags filled with cocaine, as well as large quantities of cash. Mr. Logan was indicted on June 3, 1996, in the Criminal Court for Hawkins County, and was charged with simple possession of cocaine, possession of a controlled substance with the intent to sell, and tampering with evidence. Mr. Logan hired the appellee, Heiskell Winstead, an attorney in Rogersville, to defend him on the charges.1 He was tried in the Hawkins County Criminal Court on June 20, 1996, and was convicted of the two drug-related felony counts.2 Mr. Logan was sentenced to two six-year terms that were to run concurrently. He is presently incarcerated in a Tennessee Department of Correction facility in Mountain City, Tennessee. Mr. Winstead continued to represent Mr. Logan post-trial by filing a Motion for a New Trial, which was denied by the trial court. Mr. Winstead then filed a notice of appeal on Mr. Logan's behalf and represented him during his appeal as of right. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction on January 12, 1998. Mr. Winstead next filed an application for permission to appeal to this Court on Mr. Logan's behalf, but Mr. Logan subsequently filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss the petition. Mr. Logan filed numerous post-conviction petitions and petitions for habeas corpus relief in state and federal court, however Mr. Winstead obtained permission to withdraw from representation during this period.3 On April 8, 1998, Mr. Logan, acting pro se, filed a complaint against Mr. Winstead in the Chancery Court for Hawkins County alleging legal malpractice and seeking both compensatory and punitive damages.4 The complaint was then transferred to the Circuit Court pursuant to

Although Mr. Log an initially hired M r. W instead pursuant to a private agreement, the trial court later appointed Mr. Winstea d in this matter in response to Mr. Log an's reported indigency an d his failure to p ay Mr. W instead all of his earned fees.
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The tampering with the evidence charge was voluntarily dismissed by the State.

Mr. Logan's most recent petition for post-conviction relief, in which he complained of the same matters that are the subject o f his subsequent civil malpractice suit at issue in this case, was heard in the Hawkins County Criminal Court in August 1998. T he petition wa s denied o n all counts. T he Court o f Criminal Ap peals affirmed the judgment in November 1999. This Court denied Mr. Logan's Rule 11 application for appeal on February 28, 2000. Mr. Logan alleg ed a numb er of acts and omissions b y Mr. W instead that, if pro ven, would constitute legal malpractice, including: (1) failure to file a motion to suppress evidence and failure to investigate the validity of the search warrant; (2) failure to object to illegal and irrelevant evidence; (3) failure to object to a multiple co unt indictmen t; (4) imprope rly comme nting to the jury ab out the senten ce Mr. L ogan wou ld receive if convicted; (5) referring to Mr. Logan as a "jail bird" in correspondence; (6) failure to ask for and inspect evidence as required by Tenn. R. Crim. P. 16; (7) failure to file a mo tion to confro nt the confide ntial informan t; an d (8 ) fai lure to p rop erly resp ond to M r. Lo gan 's requests and to investigate the c ase.
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Tenn. Code Ann.

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