T hi s di s pos i t i on i s notappr opr i a t e f orpubl i c a t i on a nd i s notpr e c e de nt * e xc e pta s pr ovi de d by 9th C i r . R . 36- 3. NOT F OR P UB L I CAT I ON UN I TE D STATE S C OU RT OF APPE ALS FOR T HE NI NTH CI RC UI T TR ACY O ’ RE I LL Y K OH LR AU TZ , P la in tif

f - c o u n te r - d e f

e n d a n t - A pp el l ee , v. CH RI STO PH ER J . W EBER, T h ir d - p a r ty - d e f e n d a n t - A pp el l ee , v. OI L ME N P AR T I C I P AT I ON C OR P OR AT I ON , D efen d an t -th i rd -p artyp la in tif f - c r o s s - c la im a n t - A p p e lla n t. N o. 08- 15898 D. C . No . 2 : 0 0 - C V- 0 0 0 4 2 - R L HP AL ME MOR AN DU M *

TR ACY O ’ RE I LL Y K OH LR AU TZ , P la in tif

f - c o u n te r - d e f

e n d a n t - A p p e lla n t, v. N o. 08- 17129 D. C . No . 2 : 0 0 - 0 0 0 4 2 - R L H- P AL



# FI LED JAN 19 2 010 M OLLY C. DW Y ER, CLERK U . S. C O U R T OF APPE ALST h e H o n o r ab le C a r lo s F . L u c e r o , C ir c u it J u d g e f o rth e T e n th C ir c u it, ** s i tt i ng by de s i gna t i on. CH RI STO PH ER J . W EBER, T h ir d - p a r ty - d e f e n d a n t - A p p e lla n t, OI L ME N P AR T I C I P AT I ON C OR P OR AT I ON , D efen d an t -th i rd -p artypl ai nt i ff -c ross - c l ai m ant- A pp el l ee .

A pp ea l fr om the U ni t ed S t at es D i stri ctC ou rt

f orthe D i s tr i c tof

N e va da R oge rL . H unt , C hi e f

D i s tr i c tJ udge , P r e s i di ng A r gue d a nd S ubm i tt e d D e c e m be r8, 2009 S a n F r a n c is c o , C a lif

o rn ia B ef ore: S C H R O E D E R , L U C E R O and C A L L A H A N , C i rc ui tJudg es .** T hi s i s a n appe a l a nd c r os s appe a l f r om af i na l j udgm e nte nt e r e d i n f a vorof O ilm e n P a r tic ip a tio n C o rp o r a tio n ( “O ilm e n ” ) . T h e d is tr ic t c o u r t h e ld th a t: (1) T ra cyO ’ R ei l l y K oh l raut z’ s ( “ T ra cy ”) and C hri st op her J . W eber ’ s ( “ W eber ”) a c t i ons i n f

i l i ng al i s pe nde ns , t e m por a ry r e s tr a i ni ng or de r( “ T R O ” ) a nd c om pl a i nt a ga i ns tO i l m e n r e ga r di ng i t s r e a l pr ope r ty i n N e va dac ons t i tut e d a n abus e of p r o c e s s a n d s la n d e ro f

title ; an d ( 2 ) W e b e rw a s n o t e n title d to im m u n ity a s h isT he part i es ar e f am i l i arw i th the fa ct s of thi s c as e a nd w e r epea tthem 1 h ere o n l y as n ecessary.

T r a c y a nd W e be ra l s o c ha l l e nge the di s tr i c tc our t ’ s de c i s i on t o e xt e nd 2 c om i ty t o aB a ha m a ni a n c our t ’ s di vor c e j udgm e nt . T he di s tr i c tc our tl ooke d t o the B a ha m a ni a n c our t ’ s de c i s i on f orgui da nc e a s T r a c y , he rf orm e rhus ba nd, F r a nz K o h lr au tz a n d O ilm e n ( a m o n g o th e r s ) a ll p a r tic ip a te d in th e a c tio n . T h e o n ly as pectof the B aham ani an court ’ s j ud gm entthatthe di stri ctcourtre cogn i ze d w as the B aham ani an court ’ s f i nd i ng that , i n ess ence , O i l m en and i t s N evada re al prop erty w er e notpartof the m ar i t al es t at e. T ra cyand W eberhave no tshow n that th e c o u r t ab u s e d its d is c r e tio n in th is f in d in g . Sa r e i v . R io T

in to , 487 F . 3d 1193, 12 11 n. 20 (9th C i r. 20 07 ). 3 ac t i on s e xcee ded h i s autho ri ty a s r ec ei ver. T he di stri ctcourt , ho w ever , l i m i t ed 1 O i l m e n’ s a tt orne y ’ s f

e e s t o thos e a c c rue d up t o the da t e of the c our t ’ s 2003 di s m i s s a l of

T r a c y ’ s c om pl a i nta nd de ni e d O i l m e n puni t i ve da m a ge s a nd i nj unc t i ve r e l i e f . Th e p a r t i e s ap p e a l th e s e ru l i n g s . W e a f f i rm. 2 W e r e v ie w th e d is tr ic t c o u r t’s f in d in g s o f

f a c t f o rc le a re rr o ra n d its c o n c lu s io n s o f

la w a r e r e v ie w e d d e n o v o . M athe w s v . Che v r on C or

p. , 362 F . 3d 11 72 , 11 80 (9th C i r. 20 04 ). A tt orney’ s f ee s and pu ni t i ve dam ages aw ar ds ar e r e v ie w e d f

o ra n ab u s e o f

d is c r e tio n . B ow erv. H arrah’s L au gh l i n, Inc. , 215 P . 3d 7 0 9 , 7 2 6 ( N e v . 2 0 0 9 ) ; B ongi ov iv . Sul l i v an , 1 3 8 P .3 d4 3 3 , 4 5 0 - 5 1 ( N e v . 2 0 0 6 ) . A bu se of proces s r equi re s “ (1) a n u l t er i or pu rpose by the defendant s other than r e s ol vi ng al e ga l di s put e , a nd ( 2) aw i l l f ul a c ti n the us e of

the l e ga l pr oc e s s not prop eri n the re gu l arcond uctof the proceedi ng . ” Ko v a c s v . A c o s ta , 787 P . 2d 368,4

36 9 (N ev. 19 90 ). “ T he r e qui s i t e s t o a n a c t i on f ors l a nde rof

t i t l e a r e tha tthe w or ds s p o k e n b e f

a l s e , th a tth e y b e ma l i c i o u s l y s p o k e n a n d th a tth e p l a i n t i f f s u s t a i n s o me spec i al dam age a s adi re ctand n atural re sul tof thei r havi ng been spok en. ” R o w la n d v. L ep i re , 66 2 P . 2d 13 32 , 13 35 (N ev. 19 83 ). H er e, the di stri ctcourtdi d n oterr w here i tfoun d thatT ra cyand W eber c om m i tt e d abus e of

pr oc e s s a nd s l a nde rof

t i t l e by f i l i ng the l i s pe nde ns , T R O a nd c om pl a i nton O i l m e n’ s N e va dapr ope r t i e s . U nde rN e va dal a w , f i l i ng al i s pe nde ns i s proper onl y i f “ the ac t i on i nv ol ve[s ] som e l egali nt er es ti n the chal l enged real pr ope r ty ” a nd al i s pe nde ns s houl d notbe us e d “ t o obt a i n atype of pr e - j udgm e nt att ac hm entw hi ch ca n l at erbe used i n the eventual col l ec t i on of a j ud gm ent . ” See I n r e B r ads haw , 3 1 5 B .R . 8 7 5 , 8 8 8 ( B a n k r . D . N e v . 2 0 0 4 ) . T he di stri ctcourt foun d thatT ra cyand W eberdraf t ed these fi l i ng s c l ai m i ng thatO i l m en and the re al prop erty w er e s ubj ec tt o the T exas j ud gm ent , even tho ug h they knew thatthere w as no j ud gm entagai nstO i l m en and thatT ra cyand W eber ’ s m ot i ve w as t o force a se tt lem en t. T ra cy an d W eb erh av e f ailed to d em o n stra te th at th e d istrict co u rt’s f in d in g s w e r e n o t s u p p o r te d b y s u b s ta n tia l e v id e n c e o rth a t th e c o u r t im p r o p e r ly i n t e rp r e t e d th e ap p l i c ab l e l a w. T he di stri ctcourtal so foun d that , as re ce i ver f or the m ar i t al es t at e, W eber f a l s e l y c l a i m e d tha tO i l m e n w a s the s ubj e c tof the T e xa s j udgm e ntw he n he a nd5

T r a c y f ile d th e lis p e n d e n s , T R O a n d c o m p la in t a g a in s t O ilm e n a n d th a t th e ir purpos e w a s t o f

or c e s e tt l e m e nt . T he c our tf ound thi s w a s pa r tof

apa tt e rn of g r o u n d le s s a n dv e x a tio u s litig a tio n in itia te d b y W e b e ra n d T r a c y . O n ap p e a l, W e be rha s nots how n tha tthe di s tr i c tc our te rr e d i n f i ndi ng tha tthe s e a c t i ons e x c e e d e d W e b e r ’s au th o r ity a s r e c e iv e r . See A nes v . Crow n P artners hi p, Inc. , 932 P . 2d 10 67 , 10 71 (N ev. 19 97 ). O i l m en chal l enges the di stri ctcourt ’ s dam ages aw ar d. A tt orney’ s f ee s are p r o v id e d f

o rb y N e v a d aR e v is e d S ta tu te 1 8 .0 1 0 , w h ic h p r o v id e s , in r e le v a n t p a r t, th a t “th e c o u r t m ay m a k e a n a llo w a n c e o f a tto rn e y ’s f

e e s to ap r e v a ilin g p a r ty .” (e m ph as i s a dd ed). W e f i nd thatthe di stri ctcourtdi d n otabuse i t s di sc re t i on w hen itli m it ed O il m en ’s atto rn ey ’s fe es to th o se ac cru ed u p to th e d ate o f th e c o u rt’s 2 0 0 3 d is m is s a l o f

T r a c y ’s c o m p la in t. B ow er , 215 P . 3d a t726. F urther, w e f

i nd the di stri ctcourtdi d n otabuse i t s di sc re t i on w hen i tdeni ed O i l m en an pu ni t i ve dam ages and i nj un ct i on . A l tho ug h the courtfoun d thatT ra cy a n d W e b e r ’s b e lie f

th a t F r a n z h a d h id d e n a s s e ts in O ilm e n w a s n o t ale g a lly suff i ci entdefe nse t o O i l m en’ s c l ai m s f or abuse of proces s and sl ander, the court c o u ld r e a s o n ab ly c o n c lu d e th a t th e b e lie f w a s s in c e r e ( o ra t le a s t n o t s u f f ic ie n tly m a lic io u s ) , a n d th e r e f

o r e d e n y p u n itiv e d a m a g e s . B on gi ovi , 1 3 8 P .3 d a t 4 5 0 - 5 1 .6

O ilm e n a ls o f

a ile d to m a k e as h o w in g o f a n y c o m p e llin g n e e d f

o rin ju n c tiv e r e lie f

. U ni ve rs i t y Sys . v. N

ev adan s f

or So un d G ov’t , 10 0 P . 3d 17 9, 18 7 (N ev. 20 04 ). AF F I RME D.