Opinion ID: 3065183
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: dismissal of the second amended

Text: COUNTERCLAIM
[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
Next, Fitzgerald alleges that Crockett violated the Retainer Agreement by failing to include Fitzgerald in the discussion with Nostro regarding costs. [4] To determine whether the contract was breached, we must turn to the language of the Retainer Agreement, which was incorporated into the SAC. See Sandy Valley Assocs. v. Sky Ranch Estate Owners Ass’n, 35 P.3d 964, 967 (Nev. 2001) (per curiam), receded from on different grounds by Horgan v. Felton, 170 P.3d 982, 988 (Nev. 2007) (“When a contract is clear on its face, it will be construed from the written language and enforced as written.”). Although the Retainer Agreement required the attorneys to jointly “determine” costs, it did not require that any and all communications with the client regarding costs include both attorneys. There is no specific provision requiring joint communications, nor can the explicit language be interpreted to so require. [5] Fitzgerald’s own behavior confirms our reading of the Retainer Agreement and what the parties understood it to require. The SAC alleges that Nostro called Crockett because Fitzgerald had earlier “request[ed] that Mrs. Nostro pay her share of the costs.” Fitzgerald did not include Crockett on this earlier call, thus violating Fitzgerald’s own interpretation of the Retainer Agreement. Accordingly, we affirm the dismissal of this claim.
Finally, Fitzgerald argues that the district court erred in dismissing his claim for breach of the oral Referral Agreement. In the SAC, Fitzgerald alleged that he and Crockett “entered into a[n] oral contract” whereby Crockett agreed to give Fitzgerald 50% of the attorneys’ fees for referring the case. Fitzgerald argues that Crockett breached the agreement by failing to forward him his share of the fees. 14168 CROCKETT & MYERS v. NAPIER Resolution of this claim requires us to examine closely alternative theories of contractual liability. In his brief, Fitzgerald argues that the written Retainer Agreement was consistent with the oral Referral Agreement and that the parol evidence rule does not bar him from introducing the latter to explain ambiguities in the former. Although we agree with the general principle that “parol evidence is admissible in order to resolve ambiguities in a written instrument,” Lowden Inv. Co. v. Gen. Elec. Credit Co., 741 P.2d 806, 809 (Nev. 1987), we disagree with the parties’ contention that the rule is applicable here. Fitzgerald’s reference to the oral Referral Agreement in the SAC was not made to supplement or explain the written Retainer Agreement. Instead, Fitzgerald alleged that Crockett breached a separate and independent oral contract. To the extent that Fitzgerald now claims that the written contract also embodied a provision calling for the equal division of fees on account of the referral, that argument fails because he did not allege a breach of the written Retainer Agreement on those grounds in the SAC; he alleged only a breach of the oral contract. We therefore need not determine whether the written Retainer Agreement was, in fact, ambiguous. [6] To the extent that Fitzgerald alleges that Crockett breached a separate and independent oral contract, this claim must also fail because Fitzgerald has waived it. In his brief, Fitzgerald conceded that he “saw the Retainer Agreement as confirming the oral referral fee” and that “the oral referral fee agreement was embodied in the written Retainer Agreement.” See Hilao v. Estate of Marcos, 393 F.3d 987, 993 (9th Cir. 2004) (“A party . . . is bound by concessions made in its brief.”). Fitzgerald himself agrees that the oral agreement was not a separate contract. Because he now admits that there was no separate contract, this claim fails on its face.