Justia Montana Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

This was the third of three lawsuits arising from the development of condominiums at Lakeside Village on Hauser Lake in Lewis and Clark County. Cherrad, LLC (Cherrad) was the project’s developer and Mountain West Bank (Bank) was its lender. Craig Kinnaman was the general contractor on the project but died in 2007. In this third suit, the estate of Kinnaman (the Estate) brought eight claims against the Bank. The Bank moved for summary judgment on all the Estate’s claims on the grounds that the claims were barred by the compulsory counterclaim rule or the doctrine of claim preclusion. The district court granted summary judgment on all claims. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court did not err or abuse its discretion (1) in granting the Bank’s motion to change venue; (2) in granting summary judgment in favor of the Bank on all claims; (3) by taking judicial notice of the record in previous actions; and (4) by denying the Estate’s motion for relief from judgment under Mont. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(6). View "Kinnaman v. Mountain West Bank, N.A." on Justia Law

Keller Transport, Inc. leased a tanker truck from Wagner Enterprises, LLC to transport gasoline. The truck’s trailer overturned and spilled 6,380 gallons of gasoline, which flooded several homeowners’ properties. Keller and Wagner were both insured under a commercial transportation policy. Westchester Surplus Lines Insurance Company insured both Keller and Wagner under an excess liability policy. Homeowners initiated suit against Keller and Wagner. Westchester undertook defense of the suit on behalf of Kohler and Wagner pursuant to a reservation of rights and defended Keller and Wagner until the limit of its excess coverage had allegedly been exhausted. Westchester sought a declaration that the limit under its excess policy was $4 million in total and that the limit had been exhausted. As relevant to this appeal, the district court granted summary judgment against Westchester. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding that the district court (1) did not err by determining that Westchester’s policy was ambiguous and that it provided an additional $4 million in coverage under the “general aggregate” limit; but (2) erred by holding that Westchester breached its duty to defend the insureds under its policy. View "Westchester Surplus Lines Ins. Co. v. Keller Transport, Inc." on Justia Law

Todd Kiser initiated this action by filing a form complaint against Noel Kiser and Marie McDowell alleging that Noel and Marie owed him a sum of money arising out of an asserted agreement among them regarding their father’s nursing care and cremation costs. The small claims court entered judgment in favor of Todd. Noel and Marie appealed the judgment to the district court. The district court dismissed the appeal, reasoning that the brief filed by Noel and Marie had been untimely filed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the district court erred in dismissing the appeal on the basis of the briefing deadline imposed in the inapplicable Municipal Court Appellate Rules. Remanded to the district court for reinstatement of Noel and Marie’s appeal and for further proceedings. View "Kiser v. Kiser" on Justia Law

Continental Partners bought a lot with two building pads from Yellowstone Development that was part of the Yellowstone Club subdivision. The purchase and sale agreement included an assurance that the houses Continental intended to build on the lot would have ski-in and gravity ski-out access built by the Yellowstone Club. During construction, Continental sold the homes to separate buyers, including the managing member of WLW Realty Partners, LLC. Before construction on the ski-out access on the two homes had begun, the Yellowstone Club filed for bankruptcy protection. The subsequent owners of Yellowstone Club informed the new owners that ski-out access to the homes would not be constructed. WLW Realty filed this action against Continental, alleging, inter alia, negligent misrepresentation and violation of the Montana Consumer Protection Act (MCPA). After a bench trial, the district court entered judgment for WLW Realty. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the district court erred by (1) imposing liability on Continental for negligent misrepresentation, as WLW Realty failed to satisfy the first and second elements of the tort; and (2) finding that Continental had violated the MCPA, as Continental did not engage in unfair or deceptive acts or practices. View "WLW Realty Partners, LLC v. Continental Partners VIII, LLC" on Justia Law

Starting in 2007, A&C Soaring Eagle, Inc. (A&C) purchased chemicals and fertilizer on account from Fitterer Sales Montana, Inc. (Fitterer). In 2009, Fitterer filed suit alleging that A&C and Clint Mullin, Jr. (Clint), A&C’s president and sole shareholder, personally owed Fitterer $98,184 and that it was owed interest on the amount due. After a bench trial in 2014, the district court found that A&C and Clint personally breached a contract with Fitterer for the sale of goods. The court ordered A&C and Clint to pay Fitterer $114,398, which included unpaid principal and interest calculated at a rate of ten percent per year from June 11, 2007 to November 30, 2014. The court also ordered A&C and Clint to pay $526 per month in prejudgment interest. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part, holding (1) a valid, binding contract existed between A&C and Fitterer for the sale of goods; (2) Fitterer was entitled to prejudgment interest on the amount due under the contract; and (3) as conceded on appeal by Fitterer, Clint should be dismissed as a defendant in this case. View "Fitterer v. Mullin" on Justia Law

In 2009, Carol McClue was involved in a serious car accident. At the time of the accident, Carol had underinsured motorist (UIM) insurance coverage through Safeco Insurance Company of Illinois. In 2011, Carol was diagnosed with bulbar ALS. In 2013, Carol died from the illness. After the diagnosis, Dan McClue, Carol’s husband, submitted claims to Safeco for UIM benefits for damages associated with Carol’s ALS. Safeco denied the claims. Dan subsequently filed suit against Safeco, asserting that Safeco breached the insurance contract by failing to provide UIM benefits for Carol’s ALS. Before trial, the district court granted Safeco’s motions in limine to exclude expert testimony from two doctors - Dr. John Sabow and Dr. Decontee Jimmeh-Fletcher. The district court subsequently granted summary judgment to Safeco on the grounds that, without the expert testimony, Dan did not have admissible evidence to establish that the car accident caused Carol’s ALS. The Supreme Court (1) affirmed the district court’s ruling barring Dan from using Dr. Jimmeh-Fletcher’s testimony to establish causation in this case; but (2) reversed the district court’s ruling that Dr. Sabow was not qualified to present expert testimony during trial. View "McClue v. Safeco Ins. Co. of Ill." on Justia Law

At dispute in this case was a home inspection Don Hall performed of a home purchased by Gregory Hall. Gregory brought this action against Don, the seller of the home, and two real estate brokers, alleging that Defendants failed to disclose material defects in the property. The district court entered summary judgment in favor of all defendants with the exception of Don on the grounds that Gregory received a disclosure statement and had imputed knowledge of the defects. The district court entered default judgment against Don after determining that Don had not filed a sufficient answer to the complaint. After a writ of execution was issued, Don requested that the default judgment be set aside and later sought to claim exemptions. The district court denied the requests. The Supreme Court reversed the order of the district court striking Don’s motion to set aside default judgment, holding that, under the circumstances of this case and in the interests of justice, Don was entitled to relief from judgment. Remanded. View "Hall v. Hall" on Justia Law

The predecessor in interest to dck Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (together, Worldwide) entered into a contract with Spanish Peaks Lodge, LLC to serve as the general contractor for for a construction project. Spanish Peaks procured financing with the predecessor in interest to CH SP Acquisition LLC (together, CHSP), and CHSP took a mortgage against Spanish Peaks’ development property. When Spanish Peaks breached the parties’ contract Worldwide filed a construction lien claiming the unpaid portion of the contractor’s fee and the amount Worldwide owed to a subcontractor, Allied Steel, Inc. Allied Steel also filed a construction lien for unpaid services and materials. Allied Steel, Spanish Peaks, and Worldwide entered into a settlement agreement, and CHSP and Worldwide reached a partial settlement under which Worldwide released all of its claims against CHSP except for those at issue on appeal. The district court concluded that the unpaid portion of the contractor’s fee and the subcontractor’s fee were both secured by Worldwide in the amount of $5,476,277 and $661,767, respectively, and lienable as a matter of law. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the district court (1) erred by concluding that the unpaid portion of the contractor’s fee was lienable; and (2) erred by concluding that the subcontractor’s fee remained alienable after Allied Steel settled its claim. View "dck Worldwide Holdings Inc. v. CH SP Acquisition LLC" on Justia Law

The Butte Local Development Corporation (BLDC) filed a complaint against Masters Group International alleging that Masters had failed to pay its obligations under a loan agreement, as modified. Masters filed a third-party complaint against Comerica Bank, alleging, among other claims, that Comerica breached a Forbearance Agreement. A jury found Masters liable to BLDC for $275,251 and found Comerica liable to Masters for a total of $52,037,593, which included punitive damages. The Supreme Court reversed the judgment against Comerica, holding (1) the district court did not abuse its discretion by implicitly denying Comerica’s severance motion; (2) the district court erred in applying Montana law despite the existence of a contractual Michigan choice-of-law provision, and had the district court properly applied Michigan law, Masters’ tort claims would not have been permitted to go to the jury as stand-alone tort claims, and the jury’s award of $10.5 million in punitive damages must be vacated; (3) the law of both Montana and Michigan supports the district court’s decision to submit the companion questions of contract formation and waiver to the jury; and (4) the district court abused its discretion by allowing Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) evidence to be presented to the jury. Remanded for a new trial on the contract claims applying Michigan law. View "Masters Group Int’l v. Comerica Bank" on Justia Law

Montana Health Network, Inc. (MHN), which maintains the Montana Health Network Health Insurance Plan & Trust (the Plan), and Great Falls Orthopedic Associates (GFOA) executed a document (the Adoption Agreement) under which GFOA would adopt the Plan to obtain coverage for its employees. GFOA later stated that it wished to withdraw from the Plan. At the time, the Plan covered approximately thirty eligible GFOA employees. MHN denied GFOA’s attempt to withdraw from the Plan on the basis that GFOA failed to give timely notice to avoid automatic renewal of the Adoption Agreement. Thereafter, GFOA submitted waivers of coverage for twenty-seven of its covered employees and ceased submitting premium payments for those employees. MHN denied the waivers, but GFOA did not remit payment for the premiums of the twenty-seven employees who submitted waivers. MHN filed a breach of contract action against CFOA. The district court granted summary judgment to GFOA. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court (1) did not err in finding the contract ambiguous and in granting summary judgment to GFOA; and (2) GOFA was entitled to reasonable attorney’s fees accrued while defending this appeal. View "Mont. Health Network, Inc. v. Great Falls Orthopedic Assocs." on Justia Law