Norman v. Norman

66 S.W.3d 635, 347 Ark. 682, 2002 Ark. LEXIS 98
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedFebruary 14, 2002
Docket01-734
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 66 S.W.3d 635 (Norman v. Norman) 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
Norman v. Norman, 66 S.W.3d 635, 347 Ark. 682, 2002 Ark. LEXIS 98 (Ark. 2002).

Opinion

R AY THORNTON, Justice.

This action stems from an earlier appeal. Norman v. Norman, 334 Ark. 225, 970 S.W.2d 270 (1998) (Norman I). In that case, we were asked to determine whether C. Burt Newell, an attorney with Bachelor, Newell & Oliver, had a conflict of interest that would require him to disqualify from representing appellee, Josephine Norman, in an action seeking to enforce an alimony provision contained in a 1978 divorce decree dissolving the marriage between herself and appellant, Robert Norman. The alleged conflict of interest resulted from the fact that Latt Bachelor, a partner along with Mr. Newell in the Bachelor, Newell & Oliver law firm, was a former associate of George Callahan and Mr. Callahan had represented appellant in the 1978 divorce action. We held that Mr. Newell should have disqualified from representing appellee and remanded the case.

Our mandate was entered on July 17, 1998, and on September 1, 1998, appellant filed a motion seeking a judgment from appellee, Mrs. Norman, and from Mr. Newell, and Bachelor, Newell & Oliver for attorney’s fees, costs, and other personal expenses incurred in defending the case brought by Mrs. Norman, using Mr. Newell as her attorney. Appellant alleged that he had incurred expenses in excess of $20,000. On September 11, 1998, Mr. Newell filed a response to appellant’s motion stating that he was not hable to appellant for costs or attorney’s fees. Bachelor, Newell & Oliver did not respond to the motion. Neither Mr. Newell nor Bachelor, Newell & Oliver were joined as parties to the on-going litigation between appellant and appellee.

On September 17, 1998, appellee filed a motion requesting a voluntary dismissal of her suit against appellant. On September 10, 1999, the chancellor entered an order finding that there was no cause of action between appellant and Bachelor, Newell & Oliver. The trial court also noted that there was no showing that the firm had ever been named as a party or properly served. Additionally, the chancellor found that this court had previously ruled on the issue of whether appellant was entitled to costs and attorney’s fees, and therefore found that our ruling was the law of the case. The trial court further found that the motion sought damages, not fees, and that appellant did not have standing to seek to have the fees charged by Mr. Newell to his client, Mrs. Norman, “disgorged.” Finally, with respect to the claim against Mr. Newell, the chancellor found that there was constitutionally deficient notice to Mr. Newell and that Mr. Newell had a right to know the nature of the claim asserted against him by appellant. Appellant appealed this order.

In an opinion handed down by this court on October 26, 2000, we determined that appellant was appealing from an order that was not final. Norman v. Norman, 342 Ark. 493, 30 S.W.3d 83 (2000). Specifically, we determined that because the chancellor had not granted appellee’s motion to voluntarily dismiss her action, there was still an action pending in the chancery court and that pursuant to Rule 54(b) of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure we were precluded from considering an appeal from an order that was not final.

On March 6, 2001, the chancellor granted Mrs. Norman’s motion for voluntary dismissal. On April 4, 2001, appellant filed a notice of appeal seeking to appeal the chancellor’s orders entered September 10, 1999, and March 6, 2001. We affirm the chancellor.

We review chancery cases de novo on the record, but we do not reverse a finding of fact by the chancellor unless it is clearly erroneous. Crawford & Lewis v. Boatmen’s Trust Co. of Arkansas, Inc., 338 Ark. 679, 1 S.W.3d 417 (1999). We will affirm the trial court when it has reached the right result, even though it may have announced the wrong reason. Madden v. Aldrich, 346 Ark. 405, 58 S.W.3d 342 (2001).

We first address the issue of whether either Mr. Newell or Bachelor, Newell & Oliver were parties to the on-going litigation between appellant and appellee. There is no showing in the record to support a contention that either Mr. Newell or his law firm were joined as parties to the litigation between Mr. and Mrs. Norman. We have held that the rules of civil procedure govern the conduct of parties to a legal action. See Reynolds v. Guardianship of Sears, 327 Ark. 770, 940 S.W.2d 483 (1997) (holding that the rules of civil procedure inherently apply to parties to an action). According to Black’s Law Dictionary, a “party” is:

[A] person concerned or having or taking part in any affair, matter, transaction, or proceeding, considered individually. A “party” to an action is a person whose name is designed on record as plaintiff or defendant. [The] term, in general, means one having right to control proceedings, to make defense, to adduce, and cross-examine witnesses, and to appeal from a judgment.
“Party” is a technical word having a precise meaning in legal parlance; it refers to those by or against whom a legal suit is brought, whether in law or equity, the party plaintiff or defendant, whether composed of one or more individuals and whether natural or legal persons; all others who may be affected by the suit, indirectly or consequently are persons interested but not parties.

Black’s Law Dictionary 1122 (6th ed. 1990); see also Reynolds, supra.

We hold that neither Mr. Newell nor his law firm was a party to the Norman’s divorce action. We further conclude that because Mr. Newell and his law firm were not parties to the divorce action, they should not have been served with appellant’s motions; they were not required to respond to appellant’s motions; and they were not required to offer a defense to appellant’s motion. Accordingly, we affirm the chancellor.

We are not persuaded by appellant’s argument that he had a valid action against Mr. Newell and his law firm based on our holding in Liles v. Liles, 289 Ark. 159, 711 S.W.2d 447 (1986). In Liles, we affirmed the decision of the trial court in assessing damages including attorney’s fees and costs against an attorney for his tortious actions. While gathering information to use against Barbara Liles in a pending divorce action, the attorney, Dave Harrod, entered into a conspiracy with Tommy Liles to defraud Barbara of her marital assets. Barbara understood Harrod to be representing her and spent all day in his office preparing for a divorce action. Harrod told her that he was her attorney. He prepared an addendum to a trust, a property settlement agreement, and an entry of appearance on Barbara’s behalf. The trust addendum named Harrod as trustee. At the end of the day, Harrod advised Barbara that he would no longer be representing her but that he would be representing Tommy. Harrod then filed Tommy’s divorce petition. Id. It is clear that Harrod not only established privity with Barbara by representing himself to be her attorney, but he also became a party to a conspiracy to defraud her of her property.

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Bluebook (online)
66 S.W.3d 635, 347 Ark. 682, 2002 Ark. LEXIS 98, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/norman-v-norman-ark-2002.