LITTLE ROCK -- Former NFL All-Pro Keith Jackson can sue a lawyer for failing to file a lien to secure $500,000 in loans Jackson made to a troubled sports agent, the Arkansas state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The decision overturned part of a lower court judgment against the former Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins and Green Bay Packers tight end. In 1998, Jackson loaned $370,000 to the company of sports agent and longtime friend Elbert Crawford. The transaction brought Jackson's total contributions, including prior advances, to $512,000.

Jackson, who retired from a nine-year NFL career after Green Bay won the 1997 Super Bowl, requested that Crawford and his Ace Sports Management make arrangements to secure his loans to Ace.

Jackson and Crawford signed an agreement drafted by Crawford's lawyer, Chantel Denise Mullen, providing that Jackson was to have first lien against $500,000 of agent fees due to Ace or Crawford from a 1998 NBA contract signed by former Arkansas Razorbacks star Corliss Williamson, who now plays for the Detroit Pistons.

The agreement included the NBA contract of Los Angeles Lakers guard and former University of Arkansas-Little Rock standout Derek Fisher as a specific revenue source. It also gave Jackson a 40 percent ownership interest in Ace.

But a UCC-1 Financing Statement was never filed with the secretary of state so Jackson's lien was never perfected.

According to the court, Crawford subsequently pledged the contracts of Williamson and Fisher to other lenders who obtained a priority position to Jackson because his lien had not been perfected.

Crawford and Ace later went into bankruptcy, with Jackson as a creditor.

Jackson filed a complaint alleging that Mullen, while acting as his attorney, committed professional negligence by failing to perfect his lien, failing to properly draft the agreement, failing to inform Jackson of the consequences of not taking appropriate steps to perfect his lien, and failing to act as a prudent attorney would.

Jackson also filed a complaint against George Ivory Jr. and the Ivory Law Firm, with which Mullen was affiliated.

Mullen contended that while she represented Crawford and Ace, she never was Jackson's lawyer.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza granted summary judgment in favor of Mullen and Ivory.

In its ruling Thursday, the Supreme Court concluded that the dispute between Mullen and Jackson as to whether the two had an attorney-client relationship regarding the lien presents "a genuine issue of material fact" that should have been submitted to a jury.

The court also concluded that a jury should decide whether Ivory can be liable for Mullen's alleged negligence.

Crawford's troubles go beyond Jackson's lawsuit.

Williamson fired Crawford as his agent in 1999, costing Crawford a major chunk of his income. Several banks sued Crawford's now-defunct business over a two-year period to collect loans.

In March 2002, the University of Arkansas told the NCAA that Crawford, a former Razorbacks football player, threatened to reveal a damaging recording of athletic director Frank Broyles to investigators if a $200,000 loan was not arranged for Crawford.

Crawford denied the allegation. No recording was ever revealed.

The following August, a federal judge upheld a ruling that allowed Fisher to deduct $180,000 improperly transferred from his account from what he owed Crawford, his former agent.

Fisher fired Crawford following the unauthorized transfers to Arkansas banks from which Crawford had obtained loans trying to keep his business afloat.

The judge ruled, however, that Fisher still owed Crawford $120,000 annually, plus commissions from endorsements, under a seven-year deal Crawford negotiated with the Lakers that paid Fisher $3 million a year.