Justia Utah Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

In this, the second appeal arising out of a lawsuit against Westgate Resorts alleging violations of the Utah Pattern of Unlawful Activity Act, Westgate challenged an arbitration panel’s award of attorney fees to Shawn Adel and Consumer Protection Group, LLC (collectively, CPG). In the first appeal, the Supreme Court confirmed the panel’s award of damages against Westgate. Here, Westgate argued, inter alia, that the arbitration panel had no authority to award attorney fees for the court proceedings that confirmed the panel’s decision on the merits. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the panel’s award of fees for court proceedings confirming the panel’s own decisions is void because the Utah Uniform Arbitration Act does not authorize attorney fees for such proceedings; (2) the Utah Pattern of Unlawful Activity Act allows the panel’s award of attorney fees expended during arbitration; and (3) CPG is entitled to attorney fees for this appeal. View "Westgate Resorts, Ltd. v. Adel" on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed suit against defendant in small claims court for physical injuries arising from an alleged automobile collision between the parties. Defendant subsequently filed a petition to appeal the district court's grant of plaintiff's motion to strike defendant's jury demand and discovery requests. The court concluded that the Utah Constitution guarantees the right to a jury trial in small claims cases in a trial de novo in district court, and that defendant properly asserted that right. The court did not reach the merits of defendant's discovery arguments because they were not properly preserved. Accordingly, the court affirmed in part and reversed in part. View "Chilel v. Simler" on Justia Law

Plaintiff ClearOne is a Utah corporation and Defendant Revolabs is a competitor incorporated in Delaware with its principal place of business in Massachusetts. The underlying dispute arose when Revolabs recruited and hired Timothy Mackie while he was still employed by ClearOne. ClearOne brought this suit in Utah district court, alleging intentional interference with a contractual relationship, predatory hiring, and aiding and abetting a breach of fiduciary duty. Revolabs filed a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. The trial court granted the motion. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) ClearOne failed to allege that Revolabs had sufficient minimum contacts to subject it to specific personal jurisdiction in Utah; and (2) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying discovery to determine whether Revolabs was subject to general personal jurisdiction in Utah. View "ClearOne, Inc. v. Revolabs, Inc." on Justia Law

Plaintiff was injured when forced to stop suddenly near a construction crew on a Utah road. Plaintiff submitted a notice of claim against the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT). UDOT did not respond to the notice of claim within sixty days, and therefore, Plaintiff’s claim was deemed denied. One month later, UDOT sent a letter to Plaintiff stating that UDOT denied the claim. Plaintiff subsequently filed suit against UDOT and several unnamed “John Does.” UDOT moved for summary judgment, arguing that the Utah Governmental Immunity Act (GIA) barred Plaintiff’s claim because he did not file within one year of the date on which it was deemed denied. The trial court granted UDOT’s motion and dismissed Plaintiff’s entire suit with prejudice, including his claim against the Doe Defendants. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the denial letter sent after the deemed denial had occurred did not restart the limitations period and was a legal superfluity, and therefore, Plaintiff did not timely file his suit under the GIA; (2) estoppel was not warranted in this case; and (3) the dismissal of the Doe Defendants was proper where they were described as employees of UDOT. View "Monarrez v. Utah Dep’t of Transp." on Justia Law

628 Park Avenue, LLC filed a complaint asserting claims for unlawful detainer, breach of a promissory note, breach of lease, and declaratory relief against James Ring and other defendants. A default judgment was entered against Ring. The judgment, however, was nonfinal because claims against other defendants remained pending when it was entered. Because 628 Park Avenue recorded the default judgment it claimed to have acquired a judgment lien. The district court concluded that 628 Park Avenue possessed a valid judgment lien against the property in the amount of the original default judgment. The Court of Appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the judgment sustaining a lien under Utah Code 78B-5-202(7) must be a final judgment; and (2) the recorded judgment in this case was insufficient because it merely identified the judgment debtor by name and did not provide sufficient information as required by section 78B-5-202(7)(a)(i). View "Irving Place Assocs. v. 628 Park Ave, LLC" on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed a wrongful death suit related to her husband’s exposure to asbestos. Plaintiff served numerous defendants within within 120 days of filing in accordance with the service-of-process provisions of Utah R. Civ. P. 4(b) but did not serve defendant Kerr Corporation until five years later. Kerr filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds that it had not been timely served. The district court denied the motion. At issue in this appeal was Rule 4(b)’s provision that “where one defendant in a case is served, other defendants may be served at any time prior to trial.” The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Plaintiff complied with Rule 4(b)’s service of process requirements because she served Kerr prior to trial and while previously served defendants remained parties to the action. View "St. Jeor v. Kerr Corp." on Justia Law

David Garver and Katheryn Garver filed a medical malpractice action against several medical providers. The claims brought by David were referred to arbitration. The Garvers filed an appeal after the arbitration panel issued its decision but before the district court issued a judgment conforming to the arbitration award. The district court subsequently dismissed the Garvers’ claims. The Garvers filed a motion pursuant to Utah R. Civ. P. 60(b) arguing that the district court had been divested of jurisdiction by their premature notice of appeal, and therefore, the district court lacked jurisdiction to enter the judgment. The district court agreed and purported to reissue the judgment. The Garvers then filed another notice of appeal. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, holding (1) the district court had jurisdiction to issue its original judgment and erred in assuming it was divested of jurisdiction by the Garvers’ premature notice of appeal; and (2) because the Garvers failed to timely appeal the original judgment, the Court lacked jurisdiction to address any challenge to the merits. View "Garver v. Rosenberg" on Justia Law

Cottage Capital, LLC brought this action to enforce a guaranty agreement against Red Ledges Land Development. The district court dismissed the enforcement action with prejudice, concluding that the enforcement action was precluded as a compulsory counterclaim because it arose out of the same transaction or occurrence as a previously filed declaratory judgment action between the parties, and there could be no waiver of the preclusive effect of Utah R. Civ. P. 13(a). The Supreme Court reversed, holding that Rule 13(a) was not implicated in this case because (1) Rule 13(a) does not extend to a counterclaim that has not yet matured at the time of a civil proceeding; and (2) Cottage Capital’s enforcement claim had not matured at the time of the earlier proceedings between the parties, and therefore, this claim was not precluded. Remanded. View "Cottage Capital, LLC v. Red Ledges Land Dev." on Justia Law

This debt collection action arose from a credit agreement between U.S. Bank and Charles Migliore. Livingston Financial, LLC, as assignee for U.S. Bank, brought suit against Migliore for breach of the credit agreement. The Supreme Court granted summary judgment for Livingston. Approximately two years after the district court denied Migliore’s motion to reconsider summary judgment pursuant to Utah R. Civ. P. 60(b), Migliore filed a renewed Rule 60(b) motion to set aside the judgment. The district court denied the renewed motion and granted Livingston’s motion for attorney fees. Migliore appealed the original grant of summary judgment, the denial of the renewed Rule 60(b) motion, and the order granting attorney fees. The court of appeals (1) dismissed the appeal of the original summary judgment order and the order denying the renewed rule 60(b) motion on the basis that it lacked jurisdiction; and (2) affirmed Livingston’s award of fees. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the court of apepals (1) erred when it concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to review the district court’s denial of Migliore’s renewed Rule 60(b) motion, but the renewed motion was improper and without merit; and (2) correctly affirmed the award of attorney fees. View "Migliore v. Livingston Fin. LLC" on Justia Law

After being injured in an automobile accident, Plaintiff filed this lawsuit against the other driver, who was uninsured. At the time of the accident, Plaintiff owned an insurance policy with Farmers Insurance Exchange. Farmers intervened in the lawsuit, thus becoming a defendant. The parties later stipulated to dismissing the uninsured driver. Farmers sought to compel arbitration based on an arbitration clause in Plaintiff’s policy. The district court granted Farmers’ motion and dismissed the complaint. Plaintiff petitioned the Supreme Court for interlocutory review of the district court’s order. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, concluding that because Plaintiff had not filed a notice of appeal, the Court lacked jurisdiction to consider her case. View "McGibbon v. Farmers Ins. Exch." on Justia Law