Castle v. Castle

123 So. 3d 1267, 13 La.App. 3 Cir. 271, 2013 WL 5539297, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2058
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 9, 2013
DocketNo. 13-271
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 123 So. 3d 1267 (Castle v. Castle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Castle v. Castle, 123 So. 3d 1267, 13 La.App. 3 Cir. 271, 2013 WL 5539297, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2058 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

GENOVESE, Judge.

|! Defendant/Cross Claimant, Harry Castle, appeals the judgment of the trial court granting an exception of no cause of action in favor of Defendant in Cross Claim, John Pohorelsky, dismissing his cross claim. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In September of 2005, Kenneth Castle filed suit against his brother, Harry Castle, seeking an accounting of the income and expenses associated with jointly owned immovable property (the underlying litigation). The underlying litigation was ultimately settled pursuant to a Receipt and Release dated June 24, 2009, and a Joint Motion and Order of Dismissal dated June 25, 2009. Kenneth Castle was represented by an attorney, John Pohorelsky, in the underlying litigation.

A subsequent lawsuit (the current litigation) was instituted on June 24, 2010, by Plaintiff, Kenneth Castle (Kenneth), against Defendant, Harry Castle (Harry), asserting his entitlement to a further accounting for 2007, 2008, and 2009.1 Kenneth also named his former attorney, John Pohorelsky (Attorney Pohorelsky), in the current litigation, alleging malpractice.2

In response to the current litigation, Harry filed an exception of res judicata based upon the prior settlement and Receipt and Release in the underlying litigation. The trial court denied Harry’s exception of res judicata on September 29, 2011.

On September 23, 2010, Harry filed a cross claim against Attorney Pohorelsky for indemnification of any amounts he may [1270]*1270be cast in judgment in the 12current litigation. Attorney Pohorelsky responded with an exception of improper cumulation and an exception of no cause of action. The trial court granted the exception of no cause of action, finding that due to the lack of an attorney-client relationship, Harry failed to state a cause of action against Attorney Pohorelsky.3 Therefore, the trial court signed a judgment July 27, 2012, granting Attorney Pohorelsky’s exception of no cause of action and granting Harry additional time to amended his cross claim to include intentional tort allegations.

On July 12, 2012, Harry supplemented and amended his cross claim against Attorney Pohorelsky. Attorney Pohorelsky filed a second exception of no cause of action and an exception of peremption. The exception of no cause of action was granted by the trial court, and a judgment consistent therewith was signed November 7, 2012.

Harry appeals from the November 7, 2012 judgment of the trial court granting Attorney Pohorelsky’s exception of no cause of action and its denial of his exception of res judicata. For the following reasons, we affirm.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR

On appeal, Harry asserts that the trial court erred in denying his exception of res judicata relative to Kenneth’s claim for an additional accounting in the main demand. Additionally, Harry asserts error in the trial court’s grant of Attorney Pohorelsky’s exception of no cause of action which dismissed his cross claim.

LAW AND DISCUSSION

At the outset, we acknowledge that the first assignment of error raised by Harry addresses the trial court’s denial of his exception of res judicata. Although Harry addresses this contention in his brief to this court, he failed to seek review of |3the September 29, 2011 judgment denying his exception by means of a supervisory writ. Additionally, the present motion and order for appeal seeks a devolutive appeal only from the November 7, 2012 judgment in favor of Attorney Po-horelsky dismissing Harry’s cross claim. Accordingly, the ruling of the trial court denying Harry’s exception of res judicata is not properly before this court and is not considered herein.

Harry also asserts error in the trial court’s grant of Attorney Pohorelsky’s exception of no cause of action. We find no merit to this contention.

The function of the peremptory exception of no cause of action is to question whether the law extends a remedy to anyone under the factual allegations of the petition. Fink v. Bryant, 01-0987, p. 3 (La.11/29/01), 801 So.2d 346, 348. The peremptory exception of no cause of action is designed to test the legal sufficiency of the petition by determining whether the plaintiff is afforded a remedy in law based on the facts alleged in the pleading. Id., pp. 348-349. No evidence may be introduced to support or controvert the objection that the petition fails to state a cause of action. Id. The exception is triable on the face of the papers and for the purposes of determining the issues raised by the exception, the well-pleaded facts in the petition must be accepted as true. Id. Because the exception raises a question of law and the trial court’s decision is based only on the sufficiency of the [1271]*1271petition, the appellate court reviewing the judgment should subject the case to a de novo review. Id.

Becnel v. Grodner, 07-1041, pp. 2-3 (La.App. 4 Cir. 4/2/08), 982 So.2d 891, 894. Additionally, to withstand an exception of no cause of action, the cross claim must set forth the material facts upon which the cause of action is based. Legal or factual conclusions, absent facts which support such conclusions, are insufficient. Vermilion Hosp., Inc. v. Patout, 05-82 (La.App. 3 Cir. 6/8/05), 906 So.2d 688; Montalvo v. Sondes, 93-2813 (La.5/23/94), 637 So.2d 127. Therefore, accepting the facts as alleged in Harry’s cross claim to be true, we must determine whether |4the law affords any remedy to Harry based upon his allegations against Attorney Pohorelsky.

The jurisprudence is clear that “an attorney does not owe a legal duty to his client’s opposing party when acting on behalf of his client. A non-client, therefore, cannot hold the attorney of his opponent personally liable for malpractice or negligent breach of a professional obligation.” Arledge v. Hendricks, 30,588, p. 5 (La.App. 2 Cir. 6/26/98), 715 So.2d 135, 139, writ denied, 98-2015 (La.11/20/98), 728 So.2d 1287 (citing Montalvo, 637 So.2d 127). However, a non-client can assert a claim against an attorney based upon an intentional tort. Penalber v. Blount, 550 So.2d 577 (La.1989). Quoting Penalber, our supreme court has further stated:

Although Penalber re-affirmed the basic premise that an attorney acting on behalf of his client may not be sued by an adversary based on negligence or malpractice, that case did allow a cause of action against an attorney based on intentional tort: Intentionally tortious actions, ostensibly performed for a client’s benefit, will not shroud an attorney with immunity. Consequently, even though an attorney does not generally owe a duty to his client’s adversary, under the broad ambit of LSA-C.C. art. 2315, an attorney may be held personally accountable for his intentional tor-tious conduct....
[Penalber,] 550 So.2d at 582.

Montalvo, 637 So.2d at 130. Recognizing that “identifying an intentional tort in the context of an attorney’s actions may be more difficult than identifying a traditional intentional tort[,]” the supreme court opined that “it is essential for the petition to allege facts showing specific malice or an intent to harm on the part of the attorney in persuading his client to initiate and continue the suit.” Id.

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123 So. 3d 1267, 13 La.App. 3 Cir. 271, 2013 WL 5539297, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2058, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/castle-v-castle-lactapp-2013.