Opinion ID: 883232
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: ISSUE III: Counselor's Standard of Care.

Text: Did the District Court err in allowing the jury to allocate a percentage of negligence to Edna Goodwin when evidence was not introduced as to the standard of care for a professional counselor? The issue presented is whether the jury was properly instructed as to the remaining defendants' burden in establishing the negligence of a professional counselor. The jury was allowed to apportion negligence to Goodwin based on an ordinary standard of care instruction. Plaintiffs contend that the District Court should have instructed the jury on the standard of care for a professional counselor. The District Court determined that no standard of care had been established by expert testimony for a professional counselor. This Court has not previously ruled on whether the standard of care for a mental health counselor must be established by expert testimony or whether the jury is able to determine this on their own. We address this issue for the benefit of the parties in the event it remains an issue on retrial. It is the rule in Montana that expert testimony is required as to the standard of care, and as to the professional's violation of that standard of care, before a trier of fact may find such professional negligent. In Carlson v. Morton (1987), 229 Mont. 234, 239, 745 P.2d 1133, 1136, the Court stated that expert testimony identifying the doctor's care as negligent or the doctor's own testimony clearly establishing his own conduct as negligent was necessary. This has been applied as well to dentists and orthodontists in Llera v. Wisner (1976), 171 Mont. 254, 262, 557 P.2d 805, 810; to manufacturers and distributors of pharmaceuticals in Hill v. Squibb & Sons (1979), 181 Mont. 199, 207, 592 P.2d 1383, 1388; and to abstractors of title in Doble v. Lincoln County Title Co. (1985), 215 Mont. 1, 5, 692 P.2d 1267, 1270. Most recently, the Court has required expert testimony to establish the standard of care for a veterinarian in Zimmerman v. Robertson (1993), 259 Mont. 105, 108, 854 P.2d 338, 340. The rationale for requiring expert testimony to establish a standard of care for professionals acting in their professional capacity is that such professionals are required to possess a minimum standard of special knowledge and ability, and as a result juries which are composed of laypersons are normally incompetent to pass judgment on such questions without the assistance of expert testimony. Carlson, 745 P.2d at 1137. Professors Prosser and Keeton suggest that although most of the decided cases have dealt with medical doctors, the same is undoubtedly true of dentists, pharmacists, psychiatrists, veterinarians, lawyers, architects and engineers, accountants, abstractors of title, and many other professions and skilled trades. Zimmerman, 854 P.2d at 339, citing Prosser & Keeton on The Law of Torts, § 32 (5th ed. 1984). Montana's prior decisions on this issue are in accordance with the general rule as summarized by Prosser and Keeton. We hold that expert testimony was required to establish the standard of care for Ms. Goodwin as a professional counselor before the jury could allocate a percentage of negligence to her. Section 27-1-703(4), MCA, mandated that the trier of fact consider the negligence and apportion the same to persons such as counselor Goodwin who have been released from liability. As a result, the District Court was faced with the difficult decision and concluded that in order to comply with the statute, it was necessary to instruct the jury to use the ordinary standard of care to apportion negligence to counselor Goodwin. This was necessary because neither party had established a standard of care for a professional counselor and the question arose at the time of settling jury instructions, which was after the conclusion of the submission of evidence. While the District Court had limited choice, we conclude that it was reversible error to apply the ordinary negligence standard to counselor Goodwin. We hold that the District Court erred in permitting Goodwin's name to be listed on the special verdict form when the standard of care for a professional counselor had not been established by evidence, and there were no specific jury instructions as to the professional standard requirement.