The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to consider an appeal filed by a Las Vegas couple who won, and then lost, a $3.3 million jury award in a legal malpractice case.

"Finally this thing has been put to rest after all these years," attorney Randall Mainor said last week.

The case centered around Jason Nault, who was 21 when he suffered catastrophic injuries during an outpatient hernia operation on June 6, 1994. He continues to live in a vegetative state.

A jury awarded Nault and his parents nearly $3.3 million in 2002 after concluding that his former lawyers, Mainor and Richard Harris, had committed malpractice while handling his personal injury case, but the Nevada Supreme Court voted unanimously last year to overturn the verdict.

"If the (U.S.) Supreme Court ever reviewed this case, the decision of the Nevada Supreme Court would have been reversed in some respects," said attorney Gary Logan, who handled the malpractice case for the Naults. "There's no doubt in my mind about that."

Logan retained Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional law professor at Duke University in North Carolina, to write the brief that was filed in July with the nation's high court.

Mainor said he and Harris waived their right to respond because they thought the appeal lacked merit.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeal without comment on Oct. 3, the first day of its new term.

"I didn't ever think there was much chance that this would have been heard," Mainor said.

Mainor and Harris filed a lawsuit on behalf of Nault and his wife, Louise, before settling the couple's personal injury case in March 1996 for $17 million.

Jason Nault's parents, Wendy and Phil, were appointed his guardians in April 1998. The couple sued Mainor and Harris on their son's behalf after learning he received only 14 percent of the settlement.

"In a way, the Naults have become victims of Mr. Logan's ill-conceived plan to pursue this case," Mainor said.

Logan responded by saying, "What Mr. Mainor did to his client -- to his brain-dead client -- was outrageous, and he may be called upon to answer to a higher authority."

Louise Nault received 38 percent of the settlement, while Mainor and Harris received 40 percent. Jason Nault's parents later obtained a divorce on their son's behalf.

"There can be no question that the issues Jason's parents presented were fully evaluated at the trial court, the Nevada Supreme Court and now the U.S. Supreme Court, which has confirmed once and for all that the case should not have been brought against Mainor and Harris," Harris said. "Nevertheless, I have the greatest respect for the Nault family and wish them well in their commitment to care for Jason."

Mainor said the malpractice case has taken a toll on him and his family.

"I'm just grateful that justice, although it takes sometimes a long time, is served."