Nelson v. Miller

660 P.2d 1361, 233 Kan. 122
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedMarch 26, 1983
Docket54,630
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 660 P.2d 1361 (Nelson v. Miller) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nelson v. Miller, 660 P.2d 1361, 233 Kan. 122 (kan 1983).

Opinions

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Herd, J.:

This is a lawsuit alleging malicious prosecution of a civil action. Plaintiff appeals from the trial court’s order granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment.

On April 1, 1976, a medical malpractice lawsuit entitled Van Nover, et al. v. Wesley Medical Center, et al., was filed in Sedgwick County District Court. Attorneys for the plaintiffs in that action were Vern Miller; Fred Phelps, Chartered; and Adler, Barish, Daniels, Levin & Creskoff, a law firm of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The petition in that case alleged the Van Novers had been damaged by negligent treatment afforded Ms. Van [123]*123Nover and her child by the defendants, which included R. A. Nelson, M.D.

Dr. Nelson’s attorney in the case was William Tinker, Sr., of Wichita. Mr. Tinker had been employed by the Medical Protective Company, Nelson’s insurance carrier, with Nelson’s knowledge and consent. Tinker felt strongly Dr. Nelson was not guilty of malpractice and thus attempted to get the case dismissed. At a hearing held September 29, 1977, Tinker requested the Van Novers’ attorneys agree to a dismissal as to Dr. Nelson. Phelps and Adler, although wary of the prospect of a future lawsuit alleging malicious prosecution of a civil action brought by Nelson, consented. They also requested Tinker to waive the six-month limitation period for commencing a new action against Dr. Nelson contained in K.S.A. 60-518. The resulting order of dismissal read as follows:

“On September 29, 1977, counsel for all parties being present before the Honorable Howard C. Kline, Administrative Judge, the plaintiffs moved to dismiss without prejudice this action as to the defendant R. A. Nelson, M.D.
“Counsel for said defendant, R. A. Nelson, M.D., stipulated that if, after further discovery and for good cause, the plaintiffs would seek to re-join said R. A. Nelson, M.D. as a defendant herein, the bar of K.S.A. 60-518 would not be raised against such rejoinder if the same was sought to be made more than six months from the entry of this order of dismissal.
“Said motion to dismiss is sustained and said stipulation is accepted and,
“This cause shall be and the same is hereby dismissed without prejudice as to the defendant R. A. Nelson, M.D.”

This order was filed October 10, 1977.

In the meantime, Dr. Nelson began looking into a possible lawsuit against the Van Novers’ attorneys. Toward that end Nelson hired Jerry Levy on approximately July 6, 1977, “To look at the case and see if there was merit . . . .”

After extensive discovery, counsel for the remaining defendants in Van Nover filed motions for summary judgment. These motions were granted April 18, 1978, with respect to all remaining defendants. That summary judgment was later affirmed by the Court of Appeals in an unpublished opinion and a petition for review was denied. Opinion No. 50,109 filed June 29, 1979; rev. denied 226 Kan. 793.

Following the entry of summary judgment in the medical malpractice action Dr. Nelson filed an action in Shawnee County District Court against the present defendants who were the attorneys of record for the plaintiffs in Van Nover, et al. v. Wesley [124]*124Medical Center, et al. Nelson alleged malicious prosecution of a civil action and negligence. The defendants filed motions to dismiss which were sustained. Dr. Nelson appealed to this court, which overturned the dismissal of his claim for malicious prosecution of a civil action. In Nelson v. Miller, 227 Kan. 271, 607 P.2d 438 (1980), (Nelson I), this court pointed to the “scanty record” before the trial court at the time the motions to dismiss had been granted and remanded the case “to permit the parties to proceed with discovery so that the facts may be developed and the rights of the parties determined as to the plaintiff s claim for malicious prosecution of a civil action.” 227 Kan. at 289.

After the opinion in Nelson I, Fred Phelps filed a counterclaim against Dr. Nelson and a third party petition joining Jerry Levy as an additional party defendant to the counterclaim against Dr. Nelson.

On remand the trial court held a hearing to determine the precise nature of the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of the Van Novers’ original malpractice action. Afterward, the appellees herein again moved for summary judgment. The trial court sustained the motion, stating:

“Based upon the above findings of fact this Court can only conclude that the termination of the prior proceeding was not a favorable termination as is an essential element to an action for malicious prosecution under the circumstances of this case. Under the facts, the Court finds that the termination was indecisive as it was obtained pursuant to an agreement of compromise, Dr. Nelson having received and retained the full benefits of the agreement as set forth in the findings of fact. Under the findings of fact Dr. Nelson also obtained a dismissal by improper conduct on his part in not notifying counsel for the plaintiffs in the Van Nover case at the time of obtaining the dismissal that he intended to bring this action as soon as feasible and in fact, had retained counsel to do so.
“Therefore, there being no genuine issue as to any material fact as to the termination question, defendants are entitled to summary judgment thereon. Said termination was indecisive for the reasons stated in this decision, and not favorable to Dr. Nelson. Further, because favorable termination is an essential element to plaintiff s claim, defendants are entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law as to the entirety of plaintiff s suit herein.”

Dr. Nelson has appealed.

This appeal is solely concerned with the propriety of the trial court’s holding the dismissal of Nelson in Van Nover v. Wesley Medical Center was not a termination of the case favorable to Dr. Nelson. The larger issue divides into two parts: (1) Did the trial [125]*125court err in reexamining the favorable termination issue; and (2) are there genuine issues of material fact remaining unresolved?

Nelson first contends the trial court erred in reexamining the favorable termination question. Discussion of this issue requires a brief review of this court’s opinion in Nelson I. As mentioned that case was an appeal from the trial court’s order dismissing Dr. Nelson’s petition against appellee. The record before the trial court consisted of four documents: (1) Dr. Nelson’s amended petition; (2) the plaintiff s petition in Van Nover v. Wesley Medical Center; (3) the order dismissing the Van Novers’ petition; and (4) the decision granting summary judgment to the remaining Van Nover defendants.

In its opinion in Nelson I this court first noted the elements a plaintiff must prove to be successful when alleging malicious prosecution of a civil action:

“(a) That the defendant initiated, continued, or procured civil procedures against the plaintiff.

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Nelson v. Miller
660 P.2d 1361 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1983)

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Bluebook (online)
660 P.2d 1361, 233 Kan. 122, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nelson-v-miller-kan-1983.