A lawyer accused of failing to protect a child’s $600,000 settlement from her mother is not immune from liability, a split state appellate panel has ruled.Reversing a Madison County judge, the 5th District Appellate Court majority wrote Monday that the appointment of a guardian ad litem would be an “empty gesture” if that guardian had no duty to inquire about the plaintiff’s mother’s use of nearly $80,000 from the daughter’s injury-settlement fund.The plaintiff, Alexis Nichols, received …