Campbell v. Bettius

The dispositive issues in this legal malpractice case are whether the plaintiffs adequately alleged a cause of action for fraud and whether the plaintiffs’ evidence supported a finding that the defendants’ negligence proximately caused the damage which the plaintiffs claimed.

*349In 1982, Manchester Lakes Associates (Manchester Lakes), a Virginia limited partnership, purchased 192 acres of land in several parcels from various sellers for a residential development. Manchester Lakes paid each seller a portion of the purchase price in cash, issuing promissory notes for the remainder. First deeds of…