Opinion ID: 212383
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Bluffs, LLC's Liability for Conspiracy

Text: As previously noted, we have held a defendant cannot be liable for civil conspiracy under Kansas law where that defendant did not commit an independent actionable tort, regardless of whether tort claims have been alleged against other defendants. See Pepsi-Cola, 431 F.3d at 1268. Because no independent tort claims were alleged against The Bluffs, LLC, we agree with The Bluffs that the conspiracy claim against it cannot be upheld as a matter of law. We note that The Bluffs failed to raise this argument before the district court, which generally would result in forfeiture of this argument on appeal. See United States v. Jarvis, 499 F.3d 1196, 1201 (10th Cir.2007). However, because the argument involves a pure matter of law and the proper resolution of the issue is certain, we exercise our discretion to consider this issue, which both parties had the opportunity to address in their appellate briefing. Id. at 1202; see also Daigle v. Shell Oil Co., 972 F.2d 1527, 1539 (10th Cir.1992) (noting that we will apply this discretionary exception on a case-by-case basis). We thus reverse the jury's finding of liability against The Bluffs on Plaintiffs' civil conspiracy claim. Moreover, because no other legal claims for damages were brought against The Bluffs, we reverse the award of damages against The Bluffs.