Volume 255 — Nebraska Reports

1. <bold>Summary Judgment.</bold> Summary judgment is proper only when the pleadings, depositions, admissions, stipulations, and affidavits in the record disclose that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact or as to the ultimate inferences that may be drawn from those facts and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. 2. <bold>Summary Judgment: Appeal and Error.</bold> In reviewing a summary judgment, an appellate court views the evidence in a light most favorable to the party against whom the judgment is granted and gives such party the benefit of all reasonable inferences deducible from the evidence. 3. <bold>Malpractice: Attorney and Client: Public Policy.</bold> A claim for legal malpractice cannot be assigned, because of public policy considerations concerning the personal nature and confidentiality of the attorney-client relationship. 4. <bold>Malpractice: Claims: Actions.</bold> The granting of the proceeds of a cause of action and the right to prosecute it constitutes an assignment of the cause of action for purposes of the rule against the assignment of malpractice claims. 5. <bold>Malpractice: Words and Phrases.</bold> Any professional misconduct or any unreasonable lack of skill or fidelity in the performance of professional or fiduciary duties is malpractice. 6. <bold>Venue: Actions.</bold> Pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § <cross_reference>25-410</cross_reference> (Reissue 1995), any civil action may be transferred to the district court of any county in the state for the convenience of the parties and witnesses or in the interest of justice. 7. <bold>Venue: Appeal and Error.</bold> Where the record does not show an abuse of discretion, a ruling on a motion to transfer venue will not be disturbed on appeal. 8. <bold>Judges: Words and Phrases: Appeal and Error.</bold> A judicial abuse of discretion exists when a judge, within the effective limits of authorized judicial power, elects to act or refrain from action, but the selected option results in a decision which is untenable and unfairly deprives a litigant of a substantial right or a just result in matters submitted for disposition through a judicial system.<page_number>Page 618</page_number>