Larson v. Norkot Manufacturing, Inc.

2002 ND 175, 653 N.W.2d 33, 2002 N.D. LEXIS 231, 2002 WL 31455976
CourtNorth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 5, 2002
Docket20020058
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 2002 ND 175 (Larson v. Norkot Manufacturing, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Larson v. Norkot Manufacturing, Inc., 2002 ND 175, 653 N.W.2d 33, 2002 N.D. LEXIS 231, 2002 WL 31455976 (N.D. 2002).

Opinions

VANDE WALLE, Chief Justice.

[¶ 1] Norkot Manufacturing, Inc., Western Industries, Inc., and James Page (collectively, “Page”) appealed a district court memorandum and order granting a renewed motion for summary judgment dismissing Page’s legal malpractice claims against Mark V. Larson and the law firm of McGee, Hankla, Backes & Wheeler, P.C., (“McGee”).1 We conclude there are genuine issues of material fact precluding summary judgment, and we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

I

[¶ 2] This is the second appeal from a summary judgment dismissing Page’s legal malpractice claims against Larson and McGee on the ground they were barred by the statute of limitations. See Larson v. Norkot Mfg., Inc., 2001 ND 103, ¶ 2, 627 N.W.2d 386.

[¶ 3] While a member of the McGee law firm, Larson represented Page in negotiating a business asset sale involving grinders and the right to manufacture grinders to Rexworks, Inc., and drafted an asset purchase agreement and other agreements, which were signed on February 2, 1993. No indemnification provision protecting Page from liability for damage caused by Maxigrinders manufactured by Rexworks was included in the sale agreements.

[¶ 4] A Maxigrinder manufactured by Page and purchased from Rexworks by the City of Rapid City, South Dakota, caught fire and was destroyed. Rapid City sued Rexworks. In a third-party complaint, Rexworks sued Page as a third-party defendant, seeking indemnification or contribution for any damages for which Rexworks might be found liable to Rapid City. That complaint was served upon Page’s agent on January 8, 1996. On February 21, 1996, Page’s attorneys filed an answer, counterclaim, and crossclaim seeking indemnity or contribution in the South Dakota suit. Larson, 2001 ND 103, ¶ 11, 627 N.W.2d 386. A Texas company that purchased from Rexworks a Maxigrinder manufactured by Rexworks sued Rex-works in Texas for damages caused when the Maxigrinder caught fire. Rexworks served Page with a third-party complaint in April 1996.

[¶ 5] On June 26, 1996, Page and Rex-works agreed Rexworks would pay a reduced amount to Page as full payment for all amounts due under the- 1993 agreements; Page would indemnify Rexworks for claims arising out of products manufactured by Norkot and sold by Rexworks (specifically including the machine involved in the South Dakota litigation); and Rex-works would indemnify Page for losses arising out of machines manufactured by Rexworks (specifically including the machine involved in the Texas litigation).

[¶ 6] Larson and Page became involved in litigation in 1998:

Larson sued Page on January 12, 1998, to recover unpaid legal fees. On February 6, 1998, Page answered and counterclaimed for legal malpractice for failing to include in the sale contracts with Rexworks “any provision in the contract to protect Norkot and Page from liability to parties who may be injured, physically or financially, as a consequence of the use of any of the [35]*35assets transferred from Norkot to Rex-works.”

Id. at ¶ 4. Page alleged he entered into an indemnity agreement with Rexworks on June 26, 1996, and “lost $379,316 plus other damages caused by Larson’s and McGee’s legal malpractice.” Page asserted the same malpractice claim against McGee in a third-party complaint.

[¶ 7] The trial court granted motions by Larson and McGee for dismissal of Page’s legal malpractice claims on the ground they were barred by the statute of limitations. Page appealed. We concluded there was “a genuine issue of material fact precluding summary judgment on the question of when Page knew, or with reasonable diligence should have known, of the injury, its cause, and the defendants’ possible negligence.” Id. at ¶ 13. We affirmed the dismissal of Larson’s claim against Page, reversed the remainder of the judgment, and remanded for further proceedings.

[¶ 8] After further discovery, McGee renewed its motion for summary judgment and Larson joined in the renewed motion. The district court ordered that Page’s legal malpractice claims be dismissed, explaining:

This Court finds that the statute of limitations commenced to run when Page received the South Dakota third party complaint on January 9, 1996. The complaint should have placed a reasonable person on notice of a potential claim of legal malpractice. The issue of indemnification under the agreement would reasonably] have been discussed between Mr. Page and his attorneys in preparing a defense. Since the claims for legal malpractice were served more than two years after the accrual of [a legal] malpractice case on January 9, 1996, the Court concludes that Page’s claims are barred by the statute of limitations.

Judgment was entered accordingly and this appeal followed.

II

[¶ 9] In the earlier appeal, we reiterated when summary judgment may be rendered:

Under N-D.R.Civ.P. 56, summary judgment shall be rendered if there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and any party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Summary judgment may be issued to dispose of a controversy without trial if either party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, if there is no dispute as to either the material facts or the inferences to be drawn from undisputed facts, or if resolving factual disputes would not alter the result.

Larson v. Norkot Mfg., Inc., 2001 ND 103, ¶ 7, 627 N.W.2d 386.

[¶ 10] In the earlier appeal, we also reiterated the elements necessary for a legal malpractice action and when a cause of action for legal malpractice accrues for a statute of limitations analysis:

The elements of a legal malpractice action for professional negligence are the existence of an attorney-client relationship, a duty by the attorney to the client, a breach of that duty by the attorney, and damages to the client proximately caused by the breach of that duty. Dan Nelson Constr., Inc. v. Nodland & Dickson, 2000 ND 61, ¶ 14, 608 N.W.2d 267. The two-year statute of limitations under N.D.C.C. § 28-01-18(3) applies to malpractice actions against attorneys. Binstock v. Tschider, 374 N.W.2d 81, 84 (N.D.1985). “A cause of action for legal malpractice does not accrue, and the statute of limitations does not commence to run, until the client has incurred some damage.” [36]*36Wall v. Lewis, 366 N.W.2d 471, 473 (N.D.1985). We have adopted a discovery rule, which tolls the statute of limita-, tions in malpractice actions until the plaintiff knows, or with reasonable diligence should know, of the injury, its cause, and the defendant’s possible negligence. Jacobsen v. Haugen, 529 N.W.2d 882, 885 (N.D.1995).

Larson, 2001 ND 103, ¶ 9, 627 N.W.2d 386. See also Budd v. Nixen, 6 Cal.3d 195, 98 Cal.Rptr. 849, 491 P.2d 433, 438 (1971) (“[T]he cause of action in tort does not accrue until the client both sustains damage, and discovers, or should discover, his cause of action.”).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2002 ND 175, 653 N.W.2d 33, 2002 N.D. LEXIS 231, 2002 WL 31455976, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/larson-v-norkot-manufacturing-inc-nd-2002.