Blondell v. Littlepage

• Decision Date: 17 March 2010
• Citation: 991 A.2d 80,413 Md. 96
• Parties: William J. BLONDELL, Jr., et al. v. Diane M. LITTLEPAGE, et al.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

991 A.2d 80

413 Md. 96

William J. BLONDELL, Jr., et al. v. Diane M. LITTLEPAGE, et al.

No. 73 September Term, 2009.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

March 17, 2010.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Jonathan E.C. May, Nathaniel C. Fick (Fick & May, P.C., Towson, MD), on brief, for Petitioners.

R. Scott Krause (Eccleston and Wolf, P.C., Hanover, MD), on brief, for Respondents.

ARGUED BEFORE BELL, C.J., HARRELL, BATTAGLIA, GREENE, MURPHY, ADKINS and BARBERA, JJ.

BATTAGLIA, Judge.

We are asked to consider whether an attorney, William J. Blondell, Petitioner, may maintain various contract and tort claims involving various alleged breaches of duties of good faith, fair dealing, and disclosure against another lawyer, Diane M. Littlepage,¹ Respondent, regarding representation of a husband and wife as plaintiffs in a medical malpractice action.

The three questions presented, which we have renumbered, are:

I. Whether one attorney, in a joint representation of a client with co-counsel, owes co-counsel contractual duties of good faith and fair dealing with respect to the course of the representation, the breach of which support a cause of action?

II. Whether one attorney, in a joint representation of a client with co-counsel, has an actionable tort duty to disclose to co-counsel material facts and information relating to the representation, when the failure to do so will not only injure the client and negatively impact the representation, but also result in economic and other injury to co-counsel?

III. Whether one attorney, in a joint representation of a client with co-counsel, can ever state a claim against co-counsel for the tortious interference with the first attorney's economic relationship with the client?

Blondell v. Littlepage, 409 Md. 46, 972 A.2d 861 (2009). We shall hold that Littlepage, on the well-pleaded facts, did not breach the express or implied terms of the contract in question; that the fee sharing agreement in issue, as a matter of law, did not give rise to actionable tort duties of consultation, communication, and disclosure between Littlepage and Blondell; and finally, that Littlepage, as a matter of law, could not tortiously interfere with a contractual or economic relationship to which she was a party.

Background

We adopt the facts² including the procedural history of the case and corresponding numbered notes, set forth in the reported opinion, Blondell v. Littlepage, 185 Md.App. 123, 129-33, 968 A.2d 678, 681-83 (2009), of the Court of Special Appeals:

In May 1999, Doctor Amile A. Korangy performed a mammogram on Lois Corbin and reported no abnormalities in the results. Subsequently, in November 1999, Ms. Corbin detected a lump in her left breast. Ms. Corbin scheduled the first available appointment with her gynecologist, Doctor Dee Hubbard, who examined Ms. Corbin on January 18, 2000. Dr. Hubbard scheduled Ms. Corbin for another mammogram on January 19, 2000, and a sonogram on January 21, 2000, both of which returned results suspicious for malignancy. A subsequent biopsy confirmed that Ms. Corbin had breast cancer.

In approximately May 2000, the Corbins retained Blondell to pursue a possible claim for medical malpractice against Dr. Korangy, believing that he misread Ms. Corbin's May 1999 mammogram. On January 21, 2003, Blondell filed a medical malpractice claim against Dr. Korangy in the Health Claims Arbitration Office. The parties elected to waive arbitration, and on April 8, 2003, the Health Claims Arbitration Office transferred the case to the Circuit Court for Baltimore County.

In approximately January 2004, while the case was in early discovery, Blondell referred the Corbins' claim to Littlepage.2 On January 15, 2004, the Corbins executed a document titled "Acknowledgment and Consent to Fee-Sharing Agreement" that stated:

Pursuant to the applicable Rules of Professional Conduct, I/we, the undersigned, do hereby acknowledge that I/we have been advised by the law firm of Diane M. Littlepage, Esquire that the legal fee in my/our case will be shared between Diane M. Littlepage, Esquire and William Blondell, Esquire on the basis of the anticipated division of services to be rendered in the case. I/we understand that Diane M. Littlepage, Esquire, will have primary responsibility for the prosecuting my/our claim sic, including handling court appearances and the trial of the case, should such become necessary, and that, William Blondell, Esquire will act as co-counsel in the case and will perform other services as requested by Diane M. Littlepage, Esquire. I/we hereby consent to the sharing of the fee and understand that the fee-sharing agreement will have NO effect on the overall fee to be charged in my/our case.

Blondell and Littlepage acknowledge that, while the writing did not address the specific division of the fee, they orally agreed to divide any contingency fee fifty-fifty. Littlepage entered an appearance on behalf of the Corbins. Though Blondell remained counsel of record, he had no further contact with the Corbins, and aside from a few sporadic discussions with Littlepage, was not asked to and did not actively participate in the case from that point forward.

In March 2005, Dr. Korangy filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting that the claim was barred by the three-year statute of limitations, see Maryland Code (2006 Repl.Vol., 2008 Supp.), § 5-109(a) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article, because Ms. Corbin was on inquiry notice no later than January 18, 2000, and the claim was not filed until January 21, 2003. Littlepage filed an opposition after discussing the matter with Blondell. By order dated May 31, 2005, the circuit court denied Dr. Korangy's motion.

2 Blondell had previously referred medical malpractice matters to Littlepage.

A pre-trial settlement conference was held in August, 2005. In a conversation before the conference, Blondell suggested to Littlepage that he accompany her to the conference because of his familiarity with the settlement judges. Littlepage did not object to Blondell's suggestion, but Blondell ultimately did not attend the conference.3

According to Littlepage, the settlement judge advised her during the conference that "Dr. Korangy's limitations argument was compelling and that Dr. Korangy would likely prevail in making such an argument to the trial judge or on appeal." Dr. Korangy also indicated that he would appeal an adverse verdict on the limitations issue. Littlepage discussed the limitations problem in a conversation with Blondell following the settlement conference, but the pair had no further discussions regarding the settlement negotiations.4

As the September 12, 2005 trial date approached, Littlepage discussed with the Corbins various factors influencing a potential settlement, including Ms. Corbin's failing health, a scheduling conflict between the trial and Ms. Corbin's daughter's wedding, the cost the Corbins would incur in the event of a defense verdict, and the limitations issue. In addition, Littlepage stated her opinion that Blondell unnecessarily delayed filing their claim, thus creating an arguable limitations defense that diminished the value of their claim. Littlepage recommended that the Corbins consult with

3 Blondell testified that he attempted to reach Littlepage a few days prior to the conference and on the day of the conference, without success.

4 Littlepage claimed that the settlement judge raised the possibility of a malpractice action against Blondell during the conference, but it is unclear from the record whether she informed Blondell of this fact in their conversation. Littlepage claimed that Blondell was nonetheless aware of a possible malpractice action against him. Blondell did not deny being aware of a potential malpractice claim, but contended that he was never informed of the comment by the settlement judge, nor did he believe the judge would have made such a comment. counsel regarding a possible malpractice action against Blondell, and provided them with the names of attorneys that regularly handled such claims. The Corbins eventually decided to settle the claim against Dr. Korangy for $225,000, which was significantly less than the $1 million initially demanded by Littlepage, and the $350,000 recommended by the settlement judge.5 Littlepage remitted one-half of the contingency fee to Blondell.

On December 18, 2006, Blondell filed a complaint against Littlepage, which contained counts alleging fraud/deceit, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and negligence.6 Blondell's claims rested on the assertion that Littlepage was obligated to consult and communicate with him on the Corbin matter, and that her failure to do so, and her false representations to the Corbins concerning a possible limitations defense and legal malpractice action, caused him to suffer economic and non-economic damages.

On October 15, 2007 Littlepage moved for summary judgment asserting, among other things, that no actionable duty was owed to Blondell. On October 29, 2007, before the court ruled on the summary judgment motion, Blondell filed an amended complaint adding a count for intentional interference

5 The $1 million and $350,000 figures were provided by Blondell. Littlepage neither confirmed nor denied these amounts.

6 In the fraud count, appellant requested $1,000,000 compensatory damages and $2,000,000 punitive damages. In the breach of contract count, appellant requested $117,898.67 compensatory damages, the difference between the amount of his fee as received and the amount it should have been, under his evaluation of the Corbins' claim. In each of the remaining counts, appellant requested $500,000 compensatory damages.

with contractual relations.7 On November 13, 2007, Littlepage filed a renewed and supplemental motion for summary judgment. On December 19, 2007, the motion was argued, and on December 31, 2007, the circuit court issued an order granting summary judgment in favor of Littlepage on all

...