Seigle v. Jasper

The Seigles (plaintiffs) were directed by their lender, Peoples Bank, to use bank attorney Robert Coots to perform a title search for two property purchases, paying Coots's fees as part of their closing costs on both the original purchase and a later refinancing; Coots's search failed to uncover a recorded pipeline right-of-way easement burdening both lots, which surfaced years later when Ashland Oil warned that the Seigles' planned construction would violate the easement. After separate fraud claims against the sellers were dismissed, the Seigles sued Coots for negligence in conducting the title search, and the trial court dismissed that claim as well; the Seigles appealed.