Opinion ID: 196166
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Looney & Grossman Defendants4

Text: 14 As a judgment creditor, Brinkley Co. seeks to reach and apply Athena's putative cause of action for legal malpractice against the Looney & Grossman defendants. See Mass. Gen. L. ch. 214, Sec. 3(7) (permitting certain causes of action to be reached and applied); Bethlehem Fabricators, Inc. v. H.D. Watts Co., 190 N.E. 828, 833 (Mass. 1934) (a cause of action which is not assignable cannot be reached and applied under [Mass. Gen. L. ch. 214, Sec. 3(7) ]). There is no clear statement of Massachusetts law on whether such a cause of action may be reached and applied, and the decisions in other jurisdictions are mixed. The majority view is that a legal malpractice claim cannot be assigned. See Continental Cas. Co. v. Pullman, Comley, Bradley & Reeves, 709 F. Supp. 44, 50 n.7 (D. Conn. 1989) (collecting cases), aff'd, 929 F.2d 103 (2d Cir. 1991). We bypass this unsettled question of Massachusetts law, because, as the district court correctly noted, Athena would have had no viable malpractice claim against the Looney & Grossman defendants in any event. 15 Brinkley Co. asserts that Athena had three bases for asserting a malpractice claim. First, the Looney & Grossman defendants failed to contest the action Brinkley Co. brought against Athena. Second, during 1990 certain Looney & Grossman defendants allegedly engaged in dual representation of Charles River and Athena. Third, the Looney & Grossman defendants allegedly failed to provide Athena's creditors with the required bulk transfer notice under Mass. Gen. L. ch. 106, Sec. 6-102, in connection with the sale of Athena's tangible assets. We briefly address each contention in turn. 16 First, it is undisputed that Looney & Grossman was instructed by Athena not to answer the Brinkley Co. complaint. See Fleet Nat'l Bank v. Anchor Media Television, Inc., 45 F.3d 546, 558 (1st Cir. 1995) (party may not resort to intentional self-contradiction to obtain unfair advantage). Second, there is no record evidence whatsoever that any Looney & Grossman defendant simultaneously represented Athena and Charles River. Third, the Massachusetts bulk transfer law expressly applies only to those whose principal business is the sale of merchandise from stock. Mass. Gen. L. ch. 106, Sec. 6-102(3). Athena sold no merchandise from stock, hence was not subject to the bulk transfer notice requirement. 5 17 Summary judgment on Brinkley Co.'s civil conspiracy claim was appropriate as well. It is essential to a civil conspiracy claim under Massachusetts law that the alleged conspirators have intended harm to the plaintiff. Robitaille v. Morse, 186 N.E. 78, 80 (Mass. 1933). Brinkley Co. proffered no such evidence.