Court Opinion

ID: 9629346
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 09:40:58.359105+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:19:47.646640
License: Public Domain

Zenoff, J., and Batjer, J.,
dissenting:
We do not dispute the generalization of the majority opinion that the trial court has a wide discretion to dismiss actions provided there is no abuse of that discretion. Harris v. Harris, 65 Nev. 342, 350, 196 P.2d 402 (1948), relied upon by the majority adds, however, that “The discretion to be exercised, under the circumstances of the particular case, is a legal discretion, to be exercised in conformity with the spirit of the law and in such a manner as to subserve and not to impede or defeat the ends of substantial justice.” That case goes on to say that “unless it is made to appear that there has been a gross abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court in dismissing *906an action for lack of prosecution its decision will not be disturbed on appeal.” The focus of this dissent is directed to what we believe to be the trial court’s gross abuse of discretion.
In the order of dismissal the trial court ruled that the delay was caused by the plaintiff himself and that no reasonable or valid excuse for the delay was shown by Hassett. The facts belie that ruling. Hassett was compelled to hire four attorneys before he could get any action. On February 28, 1967 he retained Attorney No. 1 who filed the complaint on March 2, 1967. From that point to February 1968 Hassett solicited this attorney with letters and phone calls seeking information as to what was being done on ids case. He gave his attorney money for depositions which were never taken. After considerable lapse of time Attorney No. 1 turned the case over to Attorney No. 2 who did nothing concerning it for several months and then advised Hassett that he must refuse the case for certain personal reasons.
In June of 1968 Attorney No. 2 transferred the case to Attorney No. 3 without Hassett’s knowledge. Late in 1968, getting no satisfaction from Attorney No. 3, Hassett retained Attorney No. 4. Together they drafted interrogatories which were not served because, as was explained to the trial court by Attorney No. 4, Hassett had to spend some time in New York for treatments for the ailment which is the basis for his lawsuit. Once the complaint was finally served upon the hospital it filed an answer. Then came the motion to dismiss.
Throughout the entire chronology it seems glaringly apparent that the client did all that he could be expected to do but that he met the common failing of busy attorneys of procrastinating to the last degree. On very similar facts, the granting of a motion to dismiss was reversed in Johnson v. Westland Theatres, 187 P.2d 932 (Colo. 1947).
When a case has long been neglected and no adequate excuse is offered for the neglect, an inference arises that the case lacks merit, and a party whose case is dismissed for lack of prosecution and who seeks an appellate court to reverse the order of dismissal must see to it that the record contains something substantial which will justify a reversal. Northern Ill. Corp. v. Miller, 78 Nev. 213, 217, 370 P.2d 955. The “something substantial” in this case is the clearly erroneous conclusion by the trial court that the client was at fault. The fault lay solely in the hands of three dilatory attorneys who instead of rejecting the case at the outset misled the client who is not expected to know about such things as motions to dismiss and statutes of limitation.
*907The policy of the law is to try cases on their merits. Adams v. Lawson, 84 Nev. 687, 689, 448 P.2d 695, 696 (1968). Dismissal may be what counsel deserves but the client deserves a little better. Sykes v. United States, 290 F.2d 555 (9th Cir. 1961). It serves no purpose to dissect each case relied upon by the majority, such as, Anderson v. Nawa, 25 Cal.App. 151, 154, 143 P. 555, 556 (1914), where the court based its determination on the unexplained failure to prosecute. Each case must rest upon its own facts and circumstances. In this case Hassett was blamed by the trial court for the delay but the record shows otherwise. He was not responsible for the delay in the prosecution of his lawsuit. Rather, despite his repeated efforts, his attorneys delayed. Although the general rule is that the client is responsible for the neglect of his attorney, respectable authority holds that this is not necessarily so when the neglect is the attorney’s failure to press the action. Daley v. County of Butte, 38 Cal.Rptr. 693 (Cal.App. 1964); Manson v. First National Bank, 77 A.2d 399 (Pa. 1951); see also the collected cases in 15 A.L.R.3d 674, § 12, and dissenting opinion in Link v. Wabash Railroad Co., 370 U.S. 626 (1962). By his efforts in seeking other counsel, his persistence upon each of them with letters and telephone calls, and his taking the file to opposing counsel to attempt at least to discuss his lawsuit, Hassett exercised the reasonable diligence deemed desirable in Black Bros. Co. v. Superior Court, 71 Cal.Rptr. 344 (1968), also relied upon by the majority.
To force a litigant to bring an action for malpractice against recalcitrant attorneys is burdensome and unfair. He should not have to suffer through the obstacles of a lawsuit against his lawyers. The lawyer’s license carries the assurance that a litigant will not be prejudiced because of his lack of knowledge on how to proceed to enforce his rights. What he seeks is his day in court and if he does not get it, the reputation of the courts and bar is severely and unnecessarily damaged.
We dissent.