Lund v. Eighth Judicial District Court ex rel. County of Clark
Lund v. Eighth Judicial District Court ex rel. County of Clark
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
By the Court,
In this petition, we address the narrow issue of whether a defendant may; under NRCP 13(h), bring a counterclaim that adds new parties to an action. Under that rule, if there is at least one original party included in the counterclaim, a defendant may add new parties to the action through a counterclaim as long as the nonparty meets the joinder requirements under NRCP 19 or 20. We take this opportunity to address this discrete issue and, while the dispute presented in this original proceeding does not warrant this court’s expedited or emergency review, we nonetheless grant in part the petition for a writ of mandamus and direct the district court to vacate its order dismissing the counterclaims and to re
BACKGROUND
In September 2010, real party in interest Brian M. Walsh filed a complaint against, among others, petitioner Benjamin A. Lund. In his complaint, Walsh alleged that he was injured by Lund in a fight that broke out at a charity golf event in Las Vegas. Lund answered Walsh’s complaint, disputing much of Walsh’s version of the events, and added counterclaims of his own against Walsh and real parties in interest Brad Mark, Hayli Rochell, Nikki Chaves, and Melanie Gross as additional counterclaim defendants. Lund alleged counterclaims against Walsh and Mark related to injuries he allegedly suffered in the fight and against Walsh, Mark, Rochell, Chaves, and Gross related to defamation for allegedly being untruthful about what Lund had said on the golf course and making Lund wrongly appear as an instigator of the fight.
Mark, Rochell, and Gross subsequently moved the district court to dismiss the counterclaims filed against them, arguing that under the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure, new parties cannot be added to a lawsuit through counterclaims.
DISCUSSION
We begin our analysis by addressing the district court’s refusal to permit the addition of new counterclaim defendants pursuant to NRCP 13(h). After concluding that the district court failed to apply the proper NRCP 13(h) analysis, we consider whether this failure warrants our intervention by way of extraordinary writ relief.
NRCP 13 governs the filing of permissive and compulsory counterclaims and cross-claims.
NRCP 19 and 20 set forth the procedure for mandatory and permissive joinder of parties, respectively. See Dutchess Bus. Servs. v. State, Bd. of Pharm., 124 Nev. 701, 710, 191 P.3d 1159, 1165 (2008). NRCP 19 requires joinder of all parties necessary for an action’s just adjudication. NRCP 19(a)(l)-(2). NRCP 20(a) au
In the present matter, Walsh, the original plaintiff, was named as a counterdefendant in each of Lund’s counterclaims. Thus, as long as Mark, Rochell, Chaves, and Gross can be joined under either NRCP 19 or 20 as additional counterclaim defendants, they may face Lund’s counterclaims brought under NRCP 13(h). AllTech Communications, 601 F. Supp. 2d at 1260; Microsoft Corp., 484 F. Supp. 2d at 965; Raytheon Aircraft, 923 F. Supp. at 1414. While the next analytical step should be to address Lund’s counterclaims within the context of NRCP 19 and 20, because the parties failed to provide any briefing on this point, we decline to reach this issue. See Edwards v. Emperor’s Garden Rest., 122 Nev. 317, 330 n.38, 130 P.3d 1280, 1288 n.38 (2006) (noting that this court need not consider an issue not cogently argued or supported by salient authority).
Our review of the documents before this court reveals that the district court was under the impression that Lund should have filed a third-party complaint, under NRCP 14, instead of filing counterclaims pursuant to NRCP 13(h). This conclusion was incorrect. Moseley v. Dist. Ct., 124 Nev. 654, 662-68, 188 P.3d 1136, 1142-46 (2008) (explaining that this court reviews the district court’s interpretation of the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure de novo, even when that interpretation is challenged through a petition for extraordinary relief). The third-party practice rule, NRCP 14, is reserved for claims based on an indemnity theory.
A review of Lund’s counterclaims makes clear that he is seeking recovery for his independent injuries, which he claims were wrongfully caused by Walsh as a counterdefendant and Mark, Rochell, Chaves, and Gross as additional counterclaim defendants. He is not seeking indemnity for Walsh’s claims against him. Thus, NRCP 13, rather than NRCP 14, is applicable to this case and the
Propriety of writ relief
A writ of mandamus is generally not available to control the exercise of judicial discretion. Round Hill Gen. Imp. Dist. v. Newman, 97 Nev. 601, 603-04, 637 P.2d 534, 536 (1981) (explaining that writ relief may be available to correct manifest abuses of discretion). But mandamus may lie to compel a court to exercise discretion that it unquestionably has, when it fails to do so. See Willmes v. Reno Mun. Ct., 118 Nev. 831, 835, 59 P.3d 1197, 1200 (2002) (concluding that mandamus relief was warranted to correct a municipal court’s complete failure to exercise discretion that it clearly possessed). Indeed, when, as here, legal error leads the district court to decline to exercise discretion that it indisputably has regarding prospective additional parties, mandamus may lie, in the discretion of this court, to avert further avoidable error. See Ex Parte Simons, 247 U.S. 231, 239 (1918) (concluding that extraordinary relief was warranted to correct a legal error that, under the circumstances, the aggrieved party should not have had to wait until the final judgment was entered to correct); In re Connaway Rec’r of Moscow Nat. Bank, 178 U.S. 421, 425 (1900) (concluding that mandamus relief was proper in the prospective additional party context to address whether the lower court acquired jurisdiction over a deceased codefendant); Babb v. Superior Court of Sonoma County, 419 P.2d 379, 385 (Cal. 1971) (granting writ relief in reviewing whether a cross-complaint could be filed and stating that “[although it is well established that mandamus cannot be issued to control a court’s discretion, in unusual circumstances the writ will lie where, under the facts, that discretion can be exercised in only one way”); In Re Kuntz, 124 S.W.3d 179, 181 (Tex. 2003) (noting that writ relief may lie when trial court fails to analyze or apply law correctly in entering an order that conflicts with the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure).
Applying these principles to this case, we conclude that the district court manifestly abused its discretion in concluding that it lacked the authority to allow Lund to add parties as additional counterclaim defendants under NRCP 13(h). Round Hill, 97 Nev. at 603-04, 637 P.2d at 536 (explaining that writ relief may be available to correct manifest abuses of discretion); Willmes, 118 Nev. 831, 59 P.3d 1197 (noting that the failure to exercise available discretion can constitute a manifest abuse of discretion). The application to join these parties could and should have been considered by the district court under NRCP 13(h); the failure to entertain the
Our conclusion does not mean that we necessarily direct the district court to reinstate the counterclaims. The decision whether to permit the amendment to add the additional counterclaim defendants under NRCP 19 and 20 is entrusted to the discretion of the district court. Cummings v. Charter Hospital, 111 Nev. 639, 645, 896 P.2d 1137, 1140 (1995) (stating that the district court possesses “broad discretion” to permit or deny the joinder of parties). As noted above, the parties have failed to provide briefing on the NRCP 19 or 20 analysis presented by this case, and we have no reason to believe on this record that the district court will not properly exercise its discretion under these rules. See Round Hill, 97 Nev. at 603-04, 637 P.2d at 536 (explaining that writ relief is available to control a manifest abuse of discretion). Accordingly, with regard to the overall disposition, as Lund has failed to demonstrate a manifest abuse of discretion concerning the necessary NRCP 19 and 20 analysis, we deny writ relief to the extent that Lund asks this court to reinstate the counterclaims.
CONCLUSION
Under NRCP 13(h), new parties may be added to an action through a counterclaim if there is at least one original party in-
Cherry and Pickering, JJ., concur.
While Chaves is participating as a party to the writ proceeding before this court, she did not file a joinder to the district court motion to dismiss.
Walsh has informed this court that he does not intend to participate in this proceeding, and thus, he has not filed an answer.
A counterclaim refers to a claim by a defendant against an opposing party, while a cross-claim is a claim against a co-party. Depner Architects v. Nev. Nat’l Bank, 104 Nev. 560, 563, 763 P.2d 1141, 1143 (1988).
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 13(h), amended on April 30, 2007, to be effective December 1, 2007, reads: “Rules 19 and 20 govern the addition of a person as a party to a counterclaim or crossclaim.”
NRCP 14 states, in most relevant part, that the rule is available to a defending party, acting as a third-party plaintiff, against “a person not a party to the action who is or may be liable to the third-party plaintiff for all or part of the plaintiff’s claim against the third-party plaintiff.’ ’
This petition was presented to this court as an “emergency,” warranting this court’s expedited treatment under NRAP 21(a)(6). Because Lund could have simply filed a separate complaint and thereafter move to consolidate the two cases, see EDCR 2.50 (addressing motions to consolidate two or more cases), there was no immediate harm warranting emergency treatment. Such abuses of NRAP 21(a)(6)’s emergency consideration procedures unnecessarily waste this court’s limited resources and may, in the future, warrant the imposition of sanctions. We decline, however, real parties in interest’s request to impose NRCP 11 sanctions against Lund.
Finally, as the underlying incident allegedly occurred on June 11, 2010, there are no pressing concerns presented by NRS 11.190(4)’s two-year statute of limitations for Lund’s counterclaims related to the alleged fight or defamation should the district court rule against Lund in its NRCP 19 or 20 analysis and require Lund to file a new, separate action.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- BENJAMIN A. LUND, an Individual v. THE EIGHTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, in and for THE COUNTY OF CLARK and THE HONORABLE VALORIE VEGA, District Judge, and BRIAN M. WALSH, an Individual BRAD A. MARK, an Individual HAYLI ROCHELL, an Individual NIKKI CHAVES, an Individual and MELANIE GROSS, an Individual, Real Parties in Interest
- Cited By
- 5 cases
- Status
- Published