Opinion ID: 2507152
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The elements of judicial estoppel are met in the instant case.

Text: Judicial estoppel is applied when a litigant obtains a judgment, advantage, or consideration from one party, through means of sworn statements, and subsequently adopts inconsistent and contrary allegations or testimony to obtain a recovery or a right against another party, arising out of the same transaction or subject matter. Loomis, 76 Idaho at 93-94, 277 P.2d at 565. Heinze argues this Court should not apply the elements of judicial estoppel articulated in Loomis. Rather, he argues the Court should apply the elements of judicial estoppel adopted by the United States Supreme Court in New Hampshire v. Maine, 532 U.S. 742, 750-51, 121 S.Ct. 1808, 1815, 149 L.Ed.2d 968, 977-78 (2001). In New Hampshire, the court exercised original jurisdiction in a case involving a boundary dispute between New Hampshire and Maine. [2] New Hampshire identified three considerations in determining whether to apply judicial estoppel: First, a party's later position must be `clearly inconsistent' with its earlier position. Second, courts regularly inquire whether the party has succeeded in persuading a court to accept that party's earlier position, so that judicial acceptance of an inconsistent position in a later proceeding would create `the perception that either the first or the second court was misled.' . . . A third consideration is whether the party seeking to assert an inconsistent position would derive an unfair advantage or impose an unfair detriment on the opposing party if not estopped. Id. at 750-51, 121 S.Ct. at 1815, 149 L.Ed.2d at 978 (citations omitted). We have previously considered the decision in New Hampshire as it relates to application of judicial estoppel. A J Constr. Co., Inc. v. Wood, 141 Idaho 682, 687, 116 P.3d 12, 17 (2005). We did so only because the first proceeding, which was the asserted basis for judicial estoppel, occurred in federal bankruptcy court. We noted the factors set forth in New Hampshire are factors a court may consider, but are not required elements. Id. (emphasis in original) (citing Hamilton v. State Farm Fire Cas. Co., 270 F.3d 778, 782 (9th Cir.2001)). We further noted that the New Hampshire court stated `[t]he circumstances under which judicial estoppel may appropriately be invoked are probably not reducible to any general formulation of principle.' Id. (quoting New Hampshire, 532 U.S. at 750, 121 S.Ct. at 1815, 149 L.Ed.2d at 978 (citations omitted)). In New Hampshire, the court stated that the enumerated factors were not inflexible prerequisites or an exhaustive formula for determining the applicability of judicial estoppel. 532 U.S. at 751, 121 S.Ct. at 1815, 149 L.Ed.2d at 978. The court noted that additional considerations may inform the doctrines application. Id. We have consistently applied the rule announced in Loomis when deciding issues of application of the doctrine of judicial estoppel in Idaho. Smith v. U.S.R.V. Properties, LC, 141 Idaho 795, 800, 118 P.3d 127, 132 (2005); A J Constr., 141 Idaho at 684-85, 116 P.3d at 14-15; McKay, 130 Idaho at 152, 937 P.2d at 1226; Wolford v. Tankersley, 107 Idaho 1062, 1075, 695 P.2d 1201, 1214 (1984). We are not persuaded that we should depart from this well-established body of law in favor of the New Hampshire approach. Applying the rule announced in Loomis to the instant case, we conclude Heinze obtained an advantage from his ex-wife. In the settlement, Heinze received a final divorce, secured joint custody of his child, and a division of the community estate, by which he was able to retain the marital home to preserve a sense of continuity for his child. This advantage was obtained through sworn statements. Under oath, Heinze was asked if he was in agreement with the settlement, to which he replied: I am. The Court also asked if Heinze would agree to abide by the terms and conditions of the settlement, to which he replied: I do. Heinze subsequently adopted an inconsistent and contrary position in the present action by asserting that the settlement was inadequate. The instant action arises out of the same transaction or subject matter as the underlying divorce action. As this Court noted in McKay, while an attorney who represented a client in a preceding action was not a party to the preceding case, the attorney is so intimately intertwined with that action that any legal malpractice action stemming from that representation arises out of the same transaction. McKay, 130 Idaho at 154, 937 P.2d at 1228. Therefore, the district court properly concluded that Heinze was judicially estopped from bringing a malpractice claim against Bauer. Heinze argues that McKay is distinguishable from the instant action because the court in McKay was required by statute to undertake a review of the documents with a special vigilance for the minor whose rights were affected by the compromise, but no such statute required the magistrate to review the record with a special vigilance for either Heinze or his ex-wife. We are not persuaded by this argument. In McKay, we did not hold that judicial estoppel only applies to settlements reviewed or approved by a judge. Further, the magistrate who presided over Heinze's divorce was required to consider the best interests of the child in determining whether to accept the child custody component of the parties' settlement. I.C. § 32-717.