Chambers v. Stern

64 S.W.3d 737, 347 Ark. 395, 2002 Ark. LEXIS 19
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedJanuary 17, 2002
Docket01-568
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 64 S.W.3d 737 (Chambers v. Stern) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chambers v. Stern, 64 S.W.3d 737, 347 Ark. 395, 2002 Ark. LEXIS 19 (Ark. 2002).

Opinion

R OBERT L. BROWN, Justice.

The appellant, Franklin David .Chambers, M.D., appeals from an order of dismissal in favor of the appellee University of Arkansas Board of Trustees; an order granting summary judgment in favor of appellee George Hamilton, M.D.; and an order granting summary judgment in favor of appellee Harold Patrick Stern, M.D. We find no error in the circuit judge’s various orders, and we affirm the dismissal and summary judgments.

The underlying facts in this case concern a divorce action between Chambers and his wife, Debra. The couple had five children: Sylvia, Keith, Jenny, Brandi, and Alexee, and custody and visitation issues regarding the children were hotly contested. As part of the divorce action, Dr. Stern had been appointed to assist the chancery court in evaluating custody and visitation matters.

On June 30, 1997, Chambers sued the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees for medical malpractice for employing Stern, who, Chambers contended, misrepresented his credentials and used an experimental patient model in treating the Chambers family. According to Chambers, he was entitled to a direct action lawsuit against the liability carrier for the University Board of Trustees, St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co., pursuant to Ark. Code' Ann. § 23-79-210 (Repl. 1999).

In that same complaint, Chambers also sued Hamilton (1) for engaging in a civil conspiracy with Stern which resulted in Chambers’s estrangement from his children, and (2) for medical malpractice in breaching the applicable standard of care by diagnosing Chambers with a narcissistic personality disorder after one forty-five minute session. The complaint added a cause of action against Stern for (1) defrauding Chambers by misrepresenting his credentials and engaging in an experimental therapeutic model, and (2) medical malpractice by violating the applicable standard of care and turning Chambers’s children against him.

On July 18, 1997, the University Board of Trustees moved to dismiss the complaint against it on grounds that it was an instrumentality of the State and not subject to suit under the doctrine of sovereign immunity. In addition, the Board maintained that it had no liability coverage for the acts alleged in Chambers’s complaint. On December 18, 1997, the trial court dismissed the complaint against the Board with prejudice.

On July 23, 1998, Hamilton moved for summary judgment on the basis that there was no evidence to establish a civil conspiracy between Stern and him and no evidence that he deviated from the applicable standard of care. On January 11, 2000, the trial court agreed with Hamilton and granted his motion.

On May 26, 1998, Stern moved for dismissal of the complaint against him or, in the alternative, summary judgment on grounds that he was immune from suit due to the judicial appointment and because there was no doctor-patient relationship between Chambers and him. On June 4, 1998, the trial court agreed that Stern was immune and granted Stern’s motion to dismiss. Later, on October 8, 1998, the trial court amended its order to a grant of summary judgment and included a Rule 54(b) certification for immediate appeal. It is this order that was first appealed to this court by Chambers. We reversed and remanded the case for the trial court to determine whether Stern was acting within the scope of the chancery court’s order when treating the Chambers family so as to afford him the protection of judicial immunity. See Chambers v. Stern, 338 Ark. 332, 994 S.W.2d 463 (1999) (Stern I).

On remand, the trial court again granted Stern summary judgment on October 23, 2000. The court found that during the first •relevant time period, June 23, 1993 — April 18, 1994, Chambers had failed to assert facts that demonstrated Stern exceeded the scope of the chancery court’s order. The court further found that Chambers could not “overcome Stern’s immunity by asserting that he was not a good therapist, or that he should have been a better therapist.” Finally, the court found that there was no showing that Dr. Stern was not functioning as a therapist within his court-appointed capacity during that time period.

As to the second relevant time period, April 18, 1994 —• the later of the last therapy session by any family member with Dr. Stern or Dr. Stern’s final communication with the chancery court, the court ruled that:

Dr. Stern’s involvement with Sylvia [sic], Alexee and Brandi related to his role as a court-appointed therapist dealing with the post-divorce issues of visitation, including but not limited to the issues of the parents’ subsequent companions and remarriage. 1 Any therapy performed by Dr. Stern appears to be inextricably linked to the chancery court’s mandate. Thus, Dr. Stern’s actions were within the scope of the April 18, 1994, divorce decree and are entitled to judicial immunity.

I. Board of Trustees

Chambers first argues that pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 23-79-210 (Kepi. 1999), he should be able to pursue a direct action against any liability insurer of UAMS and its Board of Trustees. He asserts that even though Stem and Hamilton admit that they are personally insured by a specific insurer (St. Paul), the Board has denied that it has any liability coverage covering it for the acts and this is not correct. Chambers further claims in his only citation to authority that pursuant to the doctrine of stare decisis, the trial court’s ruling should be reversed because of this court’s decision in Rogers v. Tudor Ins. Co., 325 Ark. 226, 925 S.W.2d 395 (1996).

The Board responds that it had no liability coverage and that only the University’s faculty, physicians, surgeons, students and the like are insured under the St. Paul policy. The Board points to the affidavit of Lynda Fossing, an account underwriter for St. Paid Medical Services which states that only individuals are included on the lists under the Coverage Summary of the policy, and not UAMS or any organization. The Board further claims that Chambers has not offered any evidence to the contrary.

We first consider our standard of review. The trial court, in granting the Board’s motion to dismiss, noted its reliance on several items, including supporting affidavits and exhibits. Although this court generally reviews a trial court’s decision on a motion to dismiss by treating the facts alleged in the complaint as true and viewing them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, where the court has acknowledged consideration of matters outside the parties’ pleadings, including exhibits, depositions, and affidavits, the court will treat the trial court’s order as one granting summary judgment. See Ark. R. Civ. P. 56(c); Stern I, supra; Stapleton v. M.D. Limbaugh Constr. Co., 333 Ark. 381, 969 S.W.2d 648 (1998).

This court uses the following standards for its review of orders of summary judgment:

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Bluebook (online)
64 S.W.3d 737, 347 Ark. 395, 2002 Ark. LEXIS 19, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chambers-v-stern-ark-2002.