Opinion ID: 1314092
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Reasonable Grounds for Action

Text: Since attorney's fees were granted pursuant to NRS 18.010(2)(b), there must be evidence in the record supporting the proposition that the complaint was brought without reasonable grounds or to harass the other party. See Woods v. Label Investment Corp., 107 Nev. 419, 812 P.2d 1293 (1991). In awarding attorney's fees and costs, the district judge stated that he was absolutely convinced that [Chowdhry] abandoned his patient. The district judge stated that: Dr. Chowdhry's lawsuit was made in a vindictive and unjustified effort and it was nothing more than his chance to grill his enemies and it became that, a little feud within this circle. [¶] The suit was brought without reasonable grounds in the motion [sic] to harass under the statute. I'm going to award the fees requested. Our review of the record reveals no support for the conclusion reached by the district judge concerning unreasonableness and motivation to harass. First, the jury expressly found that Chowdhry did not abandon his patient. Second, the jury found that Moore and Silver were negligent, albeit to a much lesser extent than Chowdhry (15% each vis-a-vis 70%). Thus, Chowdhry did not prevail on his negligence claim. See NRS 41.141. Third, the jury found that NLVH had breached its bylaws. Chowdhry did not prevail on this claim because the jury found no past damages. Lastly, although Chowdhry did not succeed in getting the reprimand and suspension expunged from his record, the district court did order that a copy of the verdict showing he had not abandoned his patient be placed in his file. Chowdhry maintains that the issue of abandonment was the most important to him and that the inclusion of the verdict in his file essentially nullified the reprimand. For the reasons enumerated above, we conclude that Chowdhry had reasonable grounds upon which to bring this action. Thus, as to NLVH, Silver, Moore and Wilchins, the award of attorney's fees pursuant to NRS 18.010(2)(b) was erroneous and must be reversed. With respect to Lapica, Chowdhry contends that the district court abused its discretion in awarding attorney's fees for work performed on claims litigated successfully by Chowdhry. As discussed above, Chowdhry was not successful on any of his claims, thus there was no need to limit attorney's fees to the claims on which Lapica prevailed. Because Chowdhry does not challenge the propriety of the award to Lapica, we are constrained to affirm Lapica's award of attorney's fees. We also affirm the award of costs to which respondents are entitled as prevailing parties. NRS 18.020. Given our affirmance of Lapica's award of attorney's fees for reasons stated above, it is unnecessary to discuss Lapica's position with respect to an entitlement of fees under NRAP 38.