A lawyer who sued another attorney for defamation over allegations made in court and repeated to the Daily Report in a bitter garnishment battle, has dismissed the federal action only to file a new one in a Florida state court.

Sarasota attorney Robert Frey, who holds emeritus status with the State Bar of Georgia, initially sued A. Binford Minter and a client in U.S. District Court in February over statements Minter made about Frey’s intervention in a garnishment action.