Hall v. Barrett

SNELL, Judge.

On July 18, 1985, appellant, Johnny Ray Hall, initiated the present legal malpractice action against appellee, R. Earl Barrett. Barrett had represented Hall in connection with an earlier charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. See Iowa Code § 724.26 (1979). Those charges resulted in Hall’s conviction and sentence which were affirmed on direct appeal. State v. Hall, 301 N.W.2d 729 (Iowa 1981). An unsuccessful postconviction relief petition followed Hall’s direct appeal and preceded the present action. The merits of these post-conviction proceedings, as we discuss…