The Georgia Court of Appeals has thrown out a $5.7 million legal malpractice verdict against an attorney sued by a former client later hired as a paralegal, ruling that the jury had been allowed access to a partially redacted complaint including several claims the court dismissed prior to trial.

But the appellate panel left in place the court’s ruling striking the defenses and answers of defendant lawyer James Potts II to claims for legal malpractice, writing that he had admitted to submitting false discovery response and other abuses and that the sanction was appropriate.