Opinion ID: 3065183
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Implied Covenant and Fiduciary Duty Claims

Text: [1] Fitzgerald’s claims of breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing (count four) and fiduciary duty (counts five and seven) are based upon Crockett’s conversation with Nostro in which he advised her that she could fire Fitzgerald. Because Nevada recognizes “the long-standing common law rule that communications uttered or published in the course of judicial proceedings are absolutely privileged,” Crockett argues that these claims fail because his conversation with Nostro was privileged. See Fink v. Oshins, 49 P.3d 640, 643 (Nev. 2002) (internal quotation marks omitted). “[T]he privilege applies not only to communications made during actual judicial proceedings, but also to ‘communications preliminary to a proposed judicial proceeding.’ ” Id. at 644 (quoting Bull v. McCuskey, 615 P.2d 957, 961 (Nev. 1980)). “The . . . communication need not be strictly relevant to any issue involved in the proposed or pending litigation, it only need be in some way pertinent to the subject of controversy.” Id. (internal quotations marks omitted). [2] Because the conversation consisted of legal advice as to what Nostro could do regarding Fitzgerald’s request for costs, we conclude that it falls within the parameters of the privilege. We reject Fitzgerald’s argument that Crockett was not acting within his role as Nostro’s attorney; as her lawyer, he 14166 CROCKETT & MYERS v. NAPIER had a duty to communicate with her, respond to her questions, and inform her of her legal options. Fitzgerald points out that Nevada has never applied the privilege to bar these types of claims. Because Nevada has not addressed this particular issue, we use our best judgment to predict how the Nevada Supreme Court would resolve it “using intermediate appellate court decisions, decisions from other jurisdictions, statutes, treatises, and restatements as guidance.” Strother v. S. Cal. Permanente Med. Group, 79 F.3d 859, 865 (9th Cir. 1996) (internal quotation marks omitted). We are persuaded that the Nevada courts would apply the privilege to the communication at issue. First, privileging Crockett’s legal advice advances the Nevada policy of granting “officers of the court the utmost freedom in their efforts to obtain justice for their clients.” Fink, 49 P.3d at 643 (internal quotation marks omitted). We agree with the district court that it is in the public interest that attorneys speak freely with their clients, even if attorneys occasionally abuse the privilege. Second, Nevada courts have indicated that the scope of the privilege is “quite broad,” and that it should be applied “liberally.” Id. at 644; see also Clark County Sch. Dist. v. Virtual Educ. Software, Inc., ___ P.3d ___, 2009 WL 2414820 (Nev. Aug. 6, 2009) (extending the absolute privilege to defamatory communications made by nonlawyers in anticipation of a judicial proceeding). Finally, “[w]here Nevada law is lacking, its courts have looked to the law of other jurisdictions, particularly California, for guidance.” Mort v. United States, 86 F.3d 890, 893 (9th Cir. 1997). California law supports applying the privilege here. See Pac. Gas & Elec. Co. v. Bear Stearns & Co., 791 P.2d 587, 594-95 (Cal. 1990) (privilege applies to any action except one for malicious prosecution). [3] Because the communication was privileged, we affirm the dismissal of these claims. CROCKETT & MYERS v. NAPIER 14167