Opinion ID: 891799
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Malicious Abuse of Process

Text: {29} New Mexico recognizes that “[i]n any malicious abuse of process claim, the use of process for an illegitimate purpose forms the basis of the tort.” Durham v. Guest, 2009-NMSC-007, ¶ 31, 145 N.M. 694, 204 P.3d 19. The purpose of the tort is to discourage the misuse of our judicial system. See id. (explaining that “[w]hen the judicial process is used for an illegitimate purpose such as harassment, extortion, or delay, the party that is subject to the abuse suffers harm, as does the judicial system in general”). The tort is “disfavored in the law [b]ecause of the potential chilling effect on the right of access to the courts.” Fleetwood Retail Corp. of N.M. v. LeDoux, 2007-NMSC-047, ¶ 19, 142 N.M. 150, 164 P.3d 31 (alternation in original) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). {30} In a malicious abuse of process claim, a claimant must establish three elements: “(1) the use of process in a judicial proceeding that would be improper in the regular prosecution or defense of a claim or charge; (2) a primary motive in the use of process to accomplish an illegitimate end; and (3) damages.” Durham, 2009-NMSC-007, ¶ 29. The first element—misuse of process—can be shown in one of two ways: “(1) filing a complaint without probable cause, or (2) an irregularity or impropriety suggesting extortion, delay, or harassment.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Because Kehoe’s claim is based solely on LensCrafters filing its lawsuit to enforce the noncompete provision, we need only address the first type of a malicious abuse of process claim: filing a complaint without probable cause. {31} To prove that a lawsuit lacks probable cause, a claimant must show that “the opponent did not hold a reasonable belief in the validity of the allegations of fact or law of the underlying claim.” DeVaney v. Thriftway Mktg. Corp., 1998-NMSC-001, ¶ 27, 124 N.M. 512, 953 P.2d 277, overruled on other grounds by Durham, 2009-NMSC-007, ¶ 29, abrogated on other grounds by Fleetwood, 2007-NMSC-047, ¶ 30. Because we do not want to discourage the fundamental “right of access to the courts,” Fleetwood, 2007-NMSC-047, ¶ 19, the “lack of probable cause must be manifest,” id. ¶ 13. {32} Several undisputed facts were before the district court when it granted summary judgment dismissing Kehoe’s abuse of process claim: (1) the fact that there was an explicit noncompete provision in the parties’ 1999 contract; (2) the inconsistencies in the three letters between the parties ending that contract, including Kehoe’s June 30, 2001, letter expressing to LensCrafters his decision that he would “not be renewing” his sublease contract; and (3) Kehoe establishing an optometry practice with Pearle Vision that would have violated the time and geographic restrictions of the noncompete provision if a court determined that the provision were still lawfully in effect. 9 {33} The fact that this Court has determined that LensCrafters’ nonrenewal letter had the effect of terminating the 1999 contract does not mean that LensCrafters lacked probable cause in exercising its right to seek a judicial determination of the dispute. Kehoe cites no precedent to support the proposition that a reviewing court’s determination that summary judgment is appropriate equates to a lack of probable cause for seeking judicial relief, and we must assume that no such authority exists for such a sweeping proposition. See In re Adoption of Doe, 100 N.M. at 765, 676 P.2d at 1330. Despite the fact that this Court disagrees with the Court of Appeals, which disagreed with the district court on LensCrafters’ breach of contract claim, it would be particularly ironic if we were to hold LensCrafters to a greater degree of prescience as to this Court’s ultimate holding on the justiciability of its noncompete contract claim after a majority of the Court of Appeals concluded that the same claim was justiciable. {34} The district court honored our admonition in Fleetwood “that a court’s analysis of probable cause should be undertaken in a manner that will likely have the least chilling effect on a litigant’s access to the courts.” Fleetwood, 2007-NMSC-047, ¶ 20. We therefore hold that the district court correctly ruled that LensCrafters’ suit was not filed in the absence of lawful probable cause. {35} The initial existence of probable cause for LensCrafters’ ultimately unsuccessful lawsuit makes it unnecessary to address Kehoe’s allegations of a malicious motive. Even if we were to accept Kehoe’s allegations as true, our law is clear that an improper motive by itself cannot sustain a malicious abuse of process claim. See DeVaney, 1998-NMSC-001, ¶ 20 (“[T]he filing of a proper complaint with probable cause, and without any overt misuse of process, will not subject a litigant to liability for malicious abuse of process, even if it is the result of a malicious motive.”). As we have recently emphasized, a cause of action for malicious abuse of process requires not only “a primary motive in the use of process to accomplish an illegitimate end,” but also “the use of process in a judicial proceeding that would be improper in the regular prosecution or defense of a claim or charge.” Durham, 2009-NMSC-007, ¶ 36. {36} Because Kehoe challenged only the filing of LensCrafters’ lawsuit and no other procedural impropriety and because we conclude that the lawsuit was supported by probable cause, Kehoe did not establish an essential element of his malicious abuse of process claim as a matter of law. See Mayfield Smithson Enters. v. Com-Quip, Inc., 120 N.M. 9, 16, 896 P.2d 1156, 1163 (1995) (“Summary judgment is appropriate when a defendant negates an essential element of the plaintiff’s case by demonstrating the absence of an issue of fact regarding that element.”). {37} Accordingly, we agree with the unanimous Court of Appeals holding that the district court properly dismissed Kehoe’s malicious abuse of process claim because Kehoe failed to establish an essential element of his claim—that LensCrafters’ lawsuit lacked probable cause. 10