Court Opinion

ID: 9669663
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:03:25.189069+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:59.460706
License: Public Domain

YETKA, Justice
(dissenting).
This case arises from the failure of a party to sustain a claim that was, under the circumstances, impractical to prove. The majority opinion would prohibit the trial court from dismissing such a claim without prejudice. The better rule would be to allow the trial court such discretion.
Here, Lampert Lumber Co. sued the owner and general contractor of a new office building over a failure to pay approximately $11,000 remaining on a bill for supplies. The owner counterclaimed against Lampert and cross-claimed against the general contractor, contending that he had negligently breached his contract. As the majority correctly noted, Minnesota does not recognize an action for negligent breach of contract. However, the owner would have had a breach of contract claim if the sum of payments for construction of the building exceeded the sum the general contractor had promised to charge. The owner had a strong incentive to attempt such a claim against the general contractor as a hedge against the lien Lampert could place against her building if Lampert were successful in its suit.
As it happened, the owner did not submit evidence showing that if Lampert collected the monies it claimed due, the total price for the building would exceed the sum the owner agreed to pay. The failure to do so, however, was understandable given that, in order to demonstrate that the costs of the project exceeded the contractual amount, the owner would have had to prove the costs of all the various subcontractors. Until all suppliers and subcontractors submitted their bills so that the total cost *428could be ascertained, such a proof would be impractical.
Because her cause of action was faulty and the task of producing the requisite evidence under a correct cause of action difficult, if not impossible, the owner would have been wise to drop her cross-claim prior to the close of trial. The failure of her attorney to do so is, at best, puzzling. When added to his initial error in pleading, it adds up to a sorry record of performance. However, it is unfair to penalize a client for the errors of her attorney. If, as seems likely, the owner loses on her cross-claim against the general contractor on remand, she is forever foreclosed from fairly settling the issue of whether the general contractor should be held responsible for any overrun due Lampert Lumber. The trial court should be allowed the discretion it exercised here to preserve a possibly meritorious claim where, through no fault of the party, the claim was impractical to prove. Therefore, I dissent.