U-Haul Co. of Nevada, Inc. et al v. Gregory J. Kamer, Ltd. et al
Filing
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ORDER Denying 131 Defendant's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on Plaintiffs' Fifth Cause of Action for Legal Malpractice. Signed by Judge Kent J. Dawson on 8/28/2013. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - EDS)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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DISTRICT OF NEVADA
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U-HAUL CO. OF NEVADA, INC., et al.,
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Plaintiffs,
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v.
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Case No. 2:12-CV-231-KJD-CWH
GREGORY J. KAMER, LTD., et al.,
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ORDER
Defendants.
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Before the Court is Defendant Gregory J. Kamer, Ltd.’s (“Kamer”) Motion for Partial
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Summary Judgment on Plaintiffs’ Fifth Cause of Action for Legal Malpractice (#131). Plaintiffs
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opposed the Motion (#187) and Defendant replied (#223).
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I. Background
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The parties and the Court are familiar with the procedural and factual background in this
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case. Therefore, the Court will provide only a brief recitation of the facts and circumstances
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relevant to the motion at issue. Plaintiffs retained Gregory J. Kamer, Ltd., (“Kamer”) to represent
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them in several consolidated National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) unfair labor practice
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proceedings. Kamer employed Wilcher during this period. NLRB General Counsel appointed Nathan
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W. Albright (“Albright”) and Steven Wamser to prosecute Plaintiffs. After an affair between
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Albright and Wilcher came to light, Plaintiffs enlisted the services of other law firms to reopen the
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NLRB proceedings. Plaintiffs eventually settled the NLRB proceedings and brought this action
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against Kamer and Wilcher for claims related to malpractice and improper use of confidential
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information in the NLRB proceedings. In the instant Motion, Defendant seeks summary judgment on
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Plaintiffs’ Legal Malpractice claim, as well as Plaintiffs’ claims for 1) breach of fiduciary duty, 2)
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breach of the duty to maintain confidentiality, 3) negligence, 4) constructive fraud, and 5) special
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damages.
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II. Summary Judgment Standard
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Summary judgment may be granted if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories,
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and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any
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material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. See Fed. R. Civ.
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P. 56(c); see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322 (1986). The moving party bears the
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initial burden of showing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. See Celotex, 477 U.S. at
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323. The burden then shifts to the nonmoving party to set forth specific facts demonstrating a
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genuine factual issue for trial. See Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574,
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587 (1986); Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(e).
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All justifiable inferences must be viewed in the light must favorable to the nonmoving party.
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See Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 587. However, the nonmoving party may not rest upon the mere
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allegations or denials of his or her pleadings, but he or she must produce specific facts, by affidavit
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or other evidentiary materials provided by Rule 56(e), showing there is a genuine issue for trial. See
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Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 256 (1986). The court need only resolve factual
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issues of controversy in favor of the non-moving party where the facts specifically averred by that
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party contradict facts specifically averred by the movant. See Lujan v. Nat’l Wildlife Fed’n., 497
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U.S. 871, 888 (1990); see also Anheuser-Busch, Inc. v. Natural Beverage Distribs., 69 F.3d 337, 345
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(9th Cir. 1995) (stating that conclusory or speculative testimony is insufficient to raise a genuine
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issue of fact to defeat summary judgment). “[U]ncorroborated and self-serving testimony,” without
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more, will not create a “genuine issue” of material fact precluding summary judgment. Villiarimo v.
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Aloha Island Air, Inc., 281 F.3d 1054, 1061 (9th Cir. 2002).
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Summary judgment shall be entered “against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient
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to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will
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bear the burden of proof at trial.” Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322. Summary judgment shall not be granted
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if a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party. See Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248.
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III. Analysis
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The Court has already addressed Defendant’s arguments regarding 1) breach of fiduciary
duty, 2) breach of the duty to maintain confidentiality, 3) negligence, 4) constructive fraud, and 5)
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special damages in its prior Order (#129). Accordingly, this portion of Defendant’s Motion is denied
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as moot.
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A. Final Resolution of the Underlying Legal Action
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Defendant argues that Semenza v. Nevada Med. Liab. Ins. Co., 765 P.2d 184 (1988) and
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Hewitt v. Allen, 43 P.3d 345, 348 (2002) control this issue and require summary judgment for
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Defendant. Semanza is a legal malpractice case, in which the Nevada Supreme Court analyzes when
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a legal malpractice claim may properly be brought.
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[L]egal malpractice is premised upon an attorney-client relationship, a duty owed to
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the client by the attorney, breach of that duty, and the breach as proximate cause of
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the client’s damages. Such an action does not accrue until the plaintiff knows, or
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should know, all facts relevant to the foregoing elements and damage has been
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sustained. More specifically, where damage has not been sustained or where it is too
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early to know whether damage has been sustained, a legal malpractice action is
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premature and should be dismissed. . ..[I]t follows that a legal malpractice action does
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not accrue until the plaintiff’s damages are certain and not contingent upon the
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outcome of an appeal.
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Id. at 185-86. Hewitt simply adds that in a legal malpractice case “damages do not begin to accrue
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until the underlying legal action has been resolved Hewitt, 43 P.3d at 348.
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Defendant argues that the related case of 2:08-cv-00729-KJD-PAL, U-Haul Co. of Nevada,
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Inc. et al. v USA, et al., was unresolved, and that accordingly Plaintiffs’ claim for legal malpractice
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was premature. However, the cause of Plaintiffs’ damages was Defendant’s conduct in the NLRB
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proceeding, which was fully resolved when the NLRB and Plaintiffs settled their case. The related
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case against the government does not make Plaintiffs’ damages from Kamer’s actions any more or
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less certain. Further, even if the related case did somehow make Plaintiffs’ damages uncertain, that
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case is now closed. 2:08-cv-00729-KJD-PAL, U-Haul v. United States (#147). Accordingly,
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Defendant’s argument fails as the underlying legal action is finally and fully resolved.
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B. Abandonment of Appeal
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Defendant also argues that Hewitt v. Allen, 43 P.3d 345, 348 (2002) requires a grant of
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summary judgment in Defendant’s favor because Plaintiffs abandoned available appeals. This
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argument failed when Defendant Wilcher raised it previously (#116). Hewitt is a legal malpractice
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case which recites the general rule that plaintiff’s failure to appeal, or voluntarily dismissal of an
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appeal, in an underlying action permits defendants to assert, as an affirmative defense in a
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subsequent action for malpractice, that correctable judicial error and not attorney malpractice caused
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the damage. Id. However, to prevail on a motion for summary judgment, defendants have the burden
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of showing that the appeal would have been successful. Id. Further, such actions (failing to appeal or
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voluntarily dismissing an appeal) do not foreclose a malpractice claim unless success on the appeal
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was “likely.” Id. at 224.
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Accordingly, to prevail on its motion for summary judgment against Plaintiffs’ legal
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malpractice claim, Defendant must demonstrate that there is no genuine question of material fact as
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to whether the appeal would “likely” have been successful. Defendant has not met this burden.
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Rather, Defendant argues at length that Plaintiffs failed to make any appeal whatever. Although this
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factual issue remains unclear, the argument is irrelevant. Hewitt merely extended the general
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rule–that failure to appeal allows defendants to assert the affirmative defense of alternate causation
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but does not bar the legal malpractice action–to voluntary dismissals. Accordingly, whether Plaintiffs
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failed to appeal or voluntarily dismissed the appeal is irrelevant. Defendant’s argument could bear
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fruit only if it established that success on the appeal was “likely.” Defendant fails to demonstrate that
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there is no genuine question of material fact on this issue.
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IV. Conclusion
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IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on
Plaintiffs’ Fifth Cause of Action for Legal Malpractice (#131) is DENIED.
DATED this 28th day of August 2013.
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_____________________________
Kent J. Dawson
United States District Judge
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