Chase et al v. Britton et al
Filing
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ORDER denying 12 Plaintiff Chase's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment; signed by Judge Ronald B. Leighton.(DN) Modified on 4/13/2018 (DN). (cc to David Britton)
HONORABLE RONALD B. LEIGHTON
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT TACOMA
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STEVEN CHASE, et al.,
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Plaintiffs,
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v.
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CASE NO. C16-5984 RBL
ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR
SUMMARY JUDGMENT
DAVID J BRITTON,
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Defendant.
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THIS MATTER is before the Court on Plaintiff1 Chase’s Motion for Partial Summary
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Judgment [Dkt. # 12] on his legal malpractice claim against his former attorney, Defendant
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Britton. The underlying case arose out of a commercial and real estate transaction between Chase
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on the one hand and entities named Simon and Garage Plus on the other. Chase lost a bench trial
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before Judge Van Dorninck in Pierce County Superior Court. He sued Britton in this Court,
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claiming he committed malpractice in his representation of Chase and that absent that
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malpractice, he would have instead won the underlying lawsuit.
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This Order will refer to the plaintiffs in the singular for clarity. The Court is aware there are
two plaintiffs.
ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR SUMMARY
JUDGMENT - 1
Chase now seeks partial summary judgment on all elements of his legal malpractice
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claims except damages. He claims there are no disputed issues of material fact on the remaining
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elements of his claim: duty, breach, and causation, and he seeks a ruling as a matter of law that
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Britton is liable to him for legal malpractice. The amount of damages to which he is entitled
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would remain for future adjudication.
Chase claims that Britton erroneously advised him to discontinue rent payments to
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Garage Plus, and that he failed to meet various pre-trial deadlines2. He claims that after trial,
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Britton failed to prepare alternate proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, and failed
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to object to the Findings and Conclusions that Judge Van Doorninck ultimately entered—
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including particularly that she dismissed one of Garage Plus’s against him without prejudice,
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leaving it free to sue him again. [See generally Dkt. # 12 at 5-7].
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A plaintiff claiming negligent representation by an attorney in a civil matter bears the
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burden of proving four elements by a preponderance of the evidence: (1) The existence of an
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attorney-client relationship which gives rise to a duty of care on the part of the attorney to the
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client; (2) an act or omission by the attorney in breach of the duty of care; (3) damage to the
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client; and (4) proximate causation between the attorney’s breach of the duty and the damage
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incurred. Hizey v. Carpenter, 119 Wash.2d 251, 260–61, 830 P.2d 646 (1992); Bowman v. John
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Doe Two, 104 Wash.2d 181, 185, 704 P.2d 140 (1985) (noting that, in legal malpractice suits,
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proof of attorney-client relationship is grafted onto customary elements of negligence claim)
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(emphasis added).
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Britton argues (and Chase concedes) that some or all of the untimely documents were either
considered anyway, or ultimately excluded for other reasons.
ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR SUMMARY
JUDGMENT - 2
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The fourth element, proximate causation, includes “[c]ause in fact and legal causation.”
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Hartley v. State, 103 Wash.2d 768, 777, 698 P.2d 77 (1985). Cause in fact, or “but for”
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causation, refers to “the physical connection between an act and an injury.” Id. at 778, 698 P.2d
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77. In a legal malpractice trial, the “trier of fact will be asked to decide what a reasonable jury or
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fact finder [in the underlying trial or ‘trial within the trial’] would have done but for the
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attorney's negligence.” Daugert v. Pappas, 104 Wash.2d 254, 258, 704 P.2d 600 (1985)
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(emphasis added). See also Ang v. Martin, 154 Wash. 2d 477, 482, 114 P.3d 637, 640 (2005).
It is clear that Britton owed his client a duty. But even if the Court accepts that Britton’s
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efforts fell below the standard of care as a matter of law3, Chase’s motion for summary judgment
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on causation and the fact of (but not the amount of) damage must be denied. The Court cannot
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say as a matter of law that but for Britton’s conduct, the outcome would have been different4;
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i.e., that Chase would have won. This is an inherently factual dispute. The Motion for Summary
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Judgment is DENIED.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated this 13th day of April, 2018.
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A
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Ronald B. Leighton
United States District Judge
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The Court is more than a little reluctant to hold that missing any deadline is malpractice as a
matter of law, even where the trial court ultimately allows the document to be filed or used.
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Chase submits an expert report which opines that Britton failed to meet the standard of care in a
variety of ways, and simply concludes:
As a result of the foregoing breaches, the Chase plaintiffs were unable to satisfy
their burden of proof and lost on all claims presented for trial.
[Dkt. # 14 at 6 (emphasis added)] This is not nearly enough to obtain summary judgment
on causation, which is at inherently a factual inquiry.
ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR SUMMARY
JUDGMENT - 3
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