Linn v. NationsBank

14 S.W.3d 500, 341 Ark. 57, 2000 Ark. LEXIS 172
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedApril 13, 2000
Docket99-443
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 14 S.W.3d 500 (Linn v. NationsBank) 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
Linn v. NationsBank, 14 S.W.3d 500, 341 Ark. 57, 2000 Ark. LEXIS 172 (Ark. 2000).

Opinion

ANNABELLE Clinton Imber, Justice.

This case arises from ongoing litigation tice. parties in both circuit and chancery court. This appeal is from a summary judgment by the circuit court and presents the question of whether the appellants, Jim R. Linn and Virginia Cheryl Linn, lost their right to refile claims in circuit court when they voluntarily nonsuited similar claims in the previous chancery court proceeding.

The appellees, NationsBank, as successor-in-interest to Boatmen’s National Bank of Conway, and Tom Nelson, a Boatmen’s employee, committed to provide construction financing loans to the Linns in April, 1995, for the purpose of building a bed-and-breakfast facility in Greenbrier, Arkansas. After construction of the facility had been completed, a dispute arose between the parties as to NationsBank’s obligation to provide permanent financing equal to eighty percent (80%) of the value of the bed-and-breakfast as evidenced by an appraisal. As a result of this dispute, the Linns discontinued interest payments on the construction loans, and NationsBank responded by filing a foreclosure action in the Chancery Court of Faulkner County in June 1996. In August 1996, the Linns filed a counterclaim in the chancery court action, alleging breach of contract, fraudulent misrepresentation, and negligence, arising from NationsBank’s refusal to honor an alleged oral agreement to provide permanent financing after construction was completed on the bed-and-breakfast. The Linns also requested that the counterclaim be severed and transferred to circuit court for a jury trial. NationsBank filed a reply to the Linns’s counterclaim, denying any liability for breach of contract, fraudulent misrepresentation, or negligence. NationsBank also requested that the Linns’s request for severance, transfer, and jury trial be denied.

In September 1996, the Linns filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding in the United States Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Arkansas. On January 23, 1997, NationsBank obtained an order for abandonment and relief from the automatic stay in the bankruptcy proceeding, and on January 24, 1997, an order of discharge was entered by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court releasing the Linns from all dischargeable debts. On February 14, 1997, a decree was entered by the chancery court that granted the foreclosure. Paragraph seven (7) of the decree stated as follows:

That upon motion by the Linns pursuant to Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure 41(a), the counterclaim filed herein by defendants Linns against plaintiff [NationsBank] should be dismissed without prejudice.

On February 9, 1998, the Linns filed a complaint against NationsBank and Tom Nelson in the Circuit Court of Faulkner County, which stated that it was “founded upon the same action non-suited by the Plaintiffs [the Linns] in Faulkner County Chancery Court on or about 2/13/98 [sic].” The complaint again asserted claims for breach of contract, fraudulent misrepresentation, and neghgence, and asserted new claims for breach of good faith and breach of fiduciary duty. NationsBank and Tom Nelson filed an answer to the Linns’s complaint and a motion for summary judgment, which asserted that the claims by the Linns in the present circuit court action constituted compulsory counterclaims in the previous chancery court action, and were barred by the doctrine of res judicata or collateral estoppel. The trial court granted the motion for summary judgment and dismissed the complaint on the basis that the claims raised by the Linns in the circuit court action were (1) compulsory counterclaims under Ark. R. Civ. P. 13(a) in the previous chancery court action; and (2) were barred by the doctrine of res judicata.

On appeal, the Linns contend that the trial court erred in granting NationsBank’s motion for summary judgment and dismissing their complaint under the doctrine of res judicata. In Adams v. Arthur, 333 Ark. 53, 969 S.W.2d 598 (1998), we stated the standard of review for a grant of summary judgment:

The law is well settled that summary judgment is to be granted by a trial court only when it is clear that there are no genuine issues of material fact to be litigated, and the party is entided to judgment as a matter of law. Wallace v. Broyles, 331 Ark. 58, 961 S.W.2d 712 (1998), supp. opinion on denial of reh’g, 332 Ark. 189 (1998). Once the moving party has established a prima facie entitlement to summary judgment, the opposing party must meet proof with proof and demonstrate the existence of a material issue of fact. Id. On appellate review, this court determines if summary judgment was appropriate based on whether the evidentiary items presented by the moving party in support of the motion leave a material fact unanswered. Id. This court views the evidence in a hght most favorable to the party against whom the motion was filed, resolving all doubts and inferences against the moving party. Id. Our review focuses not only on the pleadings, but also on the affidavits and other documents filed by the parties. Id.

Adams v. Arthur, 333 Ark. at 62, 969 S.W.2d at 602.

The Linns first assert that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment because the traditional elements of res judicata were not satisfied. The concept of res judicata has two facets. In Matter of Estate of Goston v. Ford Motor Co., 320 Ark. 699, 898 S.W.2d 471 (1995) (citing John Chesseman Trucking, Inc. v. Pinson, 313 Ark. 632, 855 S.W.2d 941 (1993)). Issue preclusion precludes further litigation in connection with a certain issue, and is limited to those matters previously at issue, which were directly and necessarily adjudicated. Id. The Linns correctly conclude that their claims in the circuit court action would not be barred under the issue preclusion facet of res judicata, as it is undisputed that the issues of liability raised in the counterclaim against NationsBank were never actually litigated in the chancery court action.

The claim preclusion facet of res judicata forecloses relitigation in a subsequent suit when:

(1) the first suit resulted in a final judgment on the merits;
(2) the first suit was based upon proper jurisdiction;
(3) the first suit was fully contested in good faith;
(4) both suits involved the same claim or cause of action; and
(5) both suits involved the same parties or their privies.

Bailey v. Harris Brake Fire Protection Dist., 287 Ark. 268, 269, 697 S.W.2d 916, 917 (1985) (citing Wells v. Ark. Pub. Serv. Comm’n., 272 Ark. 481, 616 S.W.2d 718 (1981)). Claim preclusion bars not only the relitigation of issues which were actually litigated in the first suit, but also those which could have been litigated but were not. Wells v. Ark. Pub. Serv. Comm’n., supra.

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Bluebook (online)
14 S.W.3d 500, 341 Ark. 57, 2000 Ark. LEXIS 172, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/linn-v-nationsbank-ark-2000.