Court Opinion

ID: 9787258
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 00:13:59.777625+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:36:54.003793
License: Public Domain

Justice BENDER,
dissenting:
The majority engages in a cogent and well-reasoned discussion of the law of consequential damages for economic torts. However, because I believe that it is not necessary to consider this area of the law and because I disagree with the majority's conclusion that lost profits cannot be recovered in this case as a matter of law, I respectfully dissent.
In my view, the question in this case is not what damages are available when an economic tort occurs. Instead, the question we must address is what damages are authorized by Colorado Rule of Civil Procedure 102(n)(2).
The authority of a court to issue a prejudgment writ of attachment is entirely statutory. Worchester v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 172 Colo. 352, 354, 473 P.2d 711, 712 (1970); Gurley v. Tomkins, 17 Colo. 437, 447, 30 P. 344, 348 (1892); Tekai Corp. v. Trans-america Title Ins. Co., 39 Colo.App. 528, 534, *876571 P.2d 321, 326 (1977). The writ of attachment is an extraordinary remedy which was unknown at common law. Woreckester, 172 Colo. at 354, 473 P.2d at 712; Great West Mining Co. v. Woodmas of Alston Mining Co., 12 Colo. 46, 54, 20 P. 771, 775 (1888); see also 7 C.J.S. Attachment § 3(a), at 228 (1980 & Supp.2001) ("Attachment as it exists in the United States today is deemed to be a summary and extraordinary remedy in derogation of the common law and has been said to owe its existence entirely to statutory enactment."). Attachment permits a party, ex parte and without notice to the affected individual, to deprive that individual of control over her property. See C.R.C.P.102(a). Because it is such an unusual remedy, and because it does have the potential to cause significant hardship to the person whose property is attached, the situations in which it may be used are extremely limited. See CRCP. 102(c); see also Graham Susman, Seisure of Person or Property: Rules 101-104, 28 Rocky Mtn. L.Rev. 608, 605 (1951) ("As a safeguard and protection to the defendant who is usually first apprised of the attachment after the deed is done, there are certain essential steps which must be complied with as a prerequisite to the issuance of the writ."). Abuses must be carefully guarded against in order to protect defendants, who have not yet been afforded an opportunity to present evidence or to be heard by the court, from injury.
Historically, many jurisdictions created a tort, known as "wrongful attachment," to compensate for the injury that resulted when plaintiffs abused the statutory attachment procedure. Certain elements, somewhat analogous to the tort of malicious prosecution, were often required in order for an individual to succeed with a wrongful attachment claim. See, e.g., Gurley, 17 Colo. at 446-47, 30 P. at 348; 7 C.J.S. Attachment § 394; 8 Stuart M. Speiser et al., The American Law of Torts, § 28:37, at 235-36 (1991). Thus, such a tort claimant was often required to prove both that the plaintiff's use of the writ of attachment was "malicious" and that the plaintiff lacked "probable cause" to believe that he was entitled to such an attachment. See, e.g., Gurley, 17 Colo. at 446-47, 30 P. at 348; 7 C.J.S. Attachment § 394.
In many states today, a statute or rule has replaced the common law action for wrongful attachment. See, e.g., Tekai, 39 Colo.App. at 534, 571 P.2d at 326 (stating that the statute or rule of procedure that creates and defines the remedy of attachment also "govern{s] the cause of action arising out of a wrongful attachment"); 7 CJ.S. Aftachment § 394. Thus, in states where such a statute or rule exists, it often becomes unnecessary for courts to consider common law tort principles when deciding whether and what amount of damages should be awarded to the victim of a wrongful attachment. See 6 Am.Jur.2d Attachment and Garnishment § 604 (1999) ("Generally, statutory provisions govern a cause of action arising as a wrongful attachment.") (citing Tekai, 39 Colo.App. at 534, 571 P.2d at 326). When the language of the statute or rule is plain and unambiguous, it is to be applied as written and it is unnee-essary to resort to extrinsic sources to determine the meaning of the rule or statute. See, e.g., J.P. Meyer Trucking & Constr., Inc. v. Colo. Sch. Dists. Self Ins. Pool, 18 P.3d 198, 201 n. 5 (Colo.2001); Watson v. Fenney, 800 P.2d 1373, 1375 (Colo.App.1990) (stating that rules of statutory construction apply to the interpretation of rules of procedure).
In Colorado, C.R.C.P. 102(n)(2) defines the cireumstances in which damages are recoverable for a wrongful attachment. Specifically, this rule provides that a defendant who prevails in a hearing where he objects to a writ of attachment against his property is entitled to any damages resulting from the attachment:
A plaintiff? who fails to prevail at the hearing provided by this section is liable to the defendant for any damages sustained as a result of the issuance of process, costs, and reasonable attorney's fees.
CRCP. 102(n)(2) {(emphasis added). CRCP. 102 was enacted pursuant to this court's constitutional rule-making authority and, like all rules, has the force and effect of statute. See Colo. Const. art. VI, § 21; Knudson v. Frost, 51 Colo. 340, 341, 117 P. 157, 157 (1911) ("The rules of the court have the force and effect of a statute.").
*877The Colorado rule departs from the common law in two major respects. First, the rule contains no requirement that the attachment be "malicious" or that the plaintiff had "probable cause" to believe that she would win her suit. In deciding whether to award damages, the only question that the court must answer is whether the defendant prevailed at the hearing traversing the affidavit. Second, and most importantly, the rule requires that the defendant be awarded "any" damages sustained, without limitation to the traditional sorts of damages available in tort suits.
For the above reasons, C.R.C.P. 102(10)(2) departs significantly from the common law rules that governed the tort of wrongful attachment. The majority, however, assumes that tort principles control and does not examine the specific language of the Colorado rule.
In my view, the language of C.R.C.P. 102(n)(2) is clear and unambiguous. The rule states that the defendant is entitled to "any damages sustained as a result of the issuance of process." I see no need to analogize to the tort of conversion, or to any other sort of economic or non-economic tort, to determine the proper measure of damages. The purpose of the rule is to protect the defendant, who through no fault of his own has become the victim of a prejudgment, ex parte attachment. Thus, I conclude that the rule means what it says and that the injured defendant can recover any damages that he can prove.
The majority's conclusion that the defendant in this case cannot recover a portion of his damages, $88,287, is but an application of the rule that the defendant must prove his damages. In the majority's view, it is impossible, as a matter of law, for the defendant to prove that he sustained a loss of $88,287 on the stocks that he was unable to purchase as a result of the plaintiffs attachment of his funds. I disagree with this conclusion.
The following facts are undisputed. The plaintiff attached the defendant's money, approximately $450,000 of which had been earmarked for the purchase of 200,000 shares of Osicom stock. This attachment occurred in December of 1997.1 The money was not released for the defendant's use until one month later, in January of 1998, when the defendant successfully traversed the plaintiffs affidavit At that time, the Osicom stock had dramatically appreciated in value. The defendant immediately used the released money to purchase Osicom stock, the purpose for which he had originally intended it. However, $450,000 was no longer enough money to obtain 200,000 shares, so the defendant purchased the number of shares that he could then afford: 95,000 shares.2
Just one week after the writ of attachment was dissolved, the defendant moved for an award of damages pursuant to C.R.C.P. 102(n)(2). Eleven months later, in December of 1998, a hearing was held on the defendant's motion.
The parties stipulated that, at the time of the hearing, the defendant continued to hold the 95,000 shares that he had purchased when the writ of attachment was dissolved in January of 1998. No evidence was taken at this hearing. The defendant divides his damages into two categories: (1) the increased cost of purchasing 95,000 shares of stock in January of 1998; and (2) the lost profits on the 105,000 shares of stock that he was not able to purchase, as measured from the date of the damages hearing in Decem*878ber of 1998.3
The majority concludes that the first category of damages sought by the defendant is reasonably ascertainable but that the second category is not. I agree with the majority regarding the 95,000 shares of stock that the defendant did purchase. However, I disagree with the majority's conclusion that damages based on the lost profits suffered by the defendant on the 105,000 shares that he was unable to purchase are speculative as a matter of law.
The stipulated facts of this case reveal that the plaintiffs actions in obtaining a writ of attachment resulted in financial loss to the defendant. The defendant was going to make a very particular investment and that investment would have paid off. It is true that we do not know when the defendant would have sold the 105,000 shares that he was unable to buy because of the attachment. Thus, we do not know exactly the amount of profit that the defendant might have ultimately realized from his investment, or whether he would have continued to own the relevant 105,000 shares in December of 1998. It is important to consider the likely reason why we do not know this information.
We are deciding this case on stipulated facts that do not provide a complete picture.4 The defendant was never given an opportunity to testify or to present evidence as to whether or when he intended to sell the 200,000 shares that he originally planned to purchase. We do not know whether he planned his Osicom investment to be a short term or a long term one, or how the attachment affected his decision to purchase or sell the smaller number of shares that he was subsequently able to afford when the attachment was lifted. We do not know if he would have retained the 200,000 shares as a block, to be sold all at once.5 Had the defendant been given an opportunity to present evidence on the damages question, we might not need to speculate regarding when the defendant would have sold the stock or the amount of lost profits that he suffered.
Further, I note that the majority's decision has the effect of punishing the defendant for the trial court's delay in reaching the damages issue. The more time that passes between attachment and calculation of damages, the more speculation there will be about whether the defendant would have continued to own the shares of Osicom stock. Presumably, the defendant would have received full damages had the trial court immediately considered the issue of damages upon release of the attachment and the receipt of the defendant's motion.
Because I believe that it is possible for the defendant to prove that he sustained damages in the amount of the lost profits that he seeks, I would remand this case for consideration of that issue.

. From the record, it appears that, after the writ was issued, the plaintiff was ordered to post a bond of $200,000 but never did so. CRCP. 102(d), which relates to the requirement that the plaintiff post a bond, reiterates the rule of damages found in C.R.C.P. 102(1)(2):
Before the issuance of a writ of attachment the plaintiff shall furnish a bond ... in an amount set forth by the court ... to the effect that if the defendant recover judgment, or if the court shall finally decide that the plaintiff was not entitled to an attachment, the plaintiff will pay all costs that may be awarded to the defendant, and all damages defendant may sustain by reason of the wrongful suing out of the attachment.
C.R.C.P. 102(d) (emphasis added). However, because it is not clear from the record whether the court required the plaintiff to post a bond before the writ was issued, I rely on the language of C.R.C.P. 102(n)(2) for this dissent.

. By my calculations, 200,000 shares would have cost approximately $950,000 at the time the writ was dissolved.

. A simpler and more logical approach would be to award the defendant the difference between the value of the assets that he had when the money was attached (approximately $450,000) and the value of the assets that he would have had when the attachment was lifted (approximately $950,000). The defendant, however, does not advocate for this approach. I note that this approach assumes that the defendant would be able to prove that he would not have sold the stock during the interim month between the issuance of the writ of attachment and its release.
The majority focuses upon the fact that the appreciation of stock is not realized until the stock is sold. While true, this does not change the fact that at the time of attachment, the defendant had something that was worth approximately $450,000 that would have, absent the attachment, been worth approximately $950,000 when the attachment was lifted.

. The majority relies on Hornblower & Weeks-Hemphill Noyes v. Lazere, 301 Minn. 462, 222 N.W.2d 799 (1974), to support its conclusion that lost profits of the sort sought here are speculative as a matter of law and, therefore, may not be recovered. However, as the majority acknowledges, the Hornblower decision explicitly rests on the ground that the defendant had an opportunity to prove his damages and simply failed to do so. 222 N.W.2d at 803. The defendant has been given no such opportunity in this case.

. If so, then his continued ownership of the 95,-000 shares might be indicative of the fact that he would have also continued to own the other 105,000 shares.