Maddocks v. Ricker

• Decision Date: 15 December 1988
• Docket Number: No. W-4844,W-4844
• Citation: 403 Mass. 592,531 N.E.2d 583
• Parties: Joseph A. MADDOCKS, Jr. et al. 1 v. Donald F. RICKER et al. 2 James W. Casson, Third, Third-Party Defendant.
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

Page 583

531 N.E.2d 583

403 Mass. 592

Joseph A. MADDOCKS, Jr. et al. ¹ v. Donald F. RICKER et al. ²

James W. Casson, Third, Third-Party Defendant.

No. W-4844.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts,

Worcester.

Argued Oct. 5, 1988.

Decided Dec. 15, 1988.

Joseph A. Maddocks, Jr., and Georgia A. Maddocks, pro se.

Edward P. Healy and Michael W. Garland, Worcester, for Donald F. Ricker & another.

Before HENNESSEY, C.J., and WILKINS, LIACOS, LYNCH and O'CONNOR, JJ.

WILKINS, Justice.

An interlocutory order entered disqualifying an attorney, James W. Casson, III, from representing his plaintiff clients in this action as long as Casson remained a third-party defendant in it or in any other action similarly criticizing his representation of the plaintiffs as counsel in this action. The plaintiffs seek interlocutory review of the disqualification order. They also seek interlocutory review of the order by which Casson was added as a third-party defendant and of the determination that judgment for the defendant Gove should be entered. We transferred the appeal here on our own motion.

Almost lost in the procedural and ethical questions that this case presents is the plaintiffs' fundamental concern. The plaintiffs allege in their amended complaint, filed by Casson, that they contracted with the defendant Leslie Gove, doing business as L & G Construction (Gove), in September through November, 1980, for site preparation work for the relocation of a house to a lot in Paxton. They also allege that Gove performed the work pursuant to the contract in a negligent, careless, and unworkmanlike manner causing harm to the plaintiffs. In a separate count, the plaintiffs allege that in August, 1981, they retained the defendant attorneys, Donald F. and Richard Ricker, to represent them in their claim against Gove and that the defendant attorneys negligently "failed to commence legal proceedings against [Gove] within the period of the statute of limitations and, therefore, the plaintiffs have forever lost their claim against [Gove]." ³ We thus have the curious circumstance of a complaint in one count seeking relief against Gove and in another seeking relief against the defendant attorneys because the plaintiffs' claims against Gove have been irretrievably lost.

Gove moved for "summary judgment," asserting that he was entitled to judgment on the allegations of the complaint (not the amended complaint). The motion stated that the contract was entered into on or about June 20, 1980, and that this action was not commenced until June 27, 1986. ⁴ Gove further relied on the complaint's allegation that the statute of limitations had run. The motion judge allowed the "summary judgment" motion (which was really a motion for judgment under Mass.R.Civ.P. 12, 365 Mass. 754 [1974] ), stating that the claim against Gove was time barred on its face. Apparently unknown to the motion judge, five days earlier, the plaintiffs as of right had filed an amended complaint that changed the date of the contract from on or about June 20, 1980, as alleged in the complaint, to "September through November of 1980." Although he had notice of it, Casson did not appear to oppose the "summary judgment" motion. The defendant attorneys received no notice of the motion.

The defendant attorneys sought unsuccessfully to vacate the "summary judgment" order and successfully moved for leave to implead Casson as a third-party defendant for contribution. The motion judge declined to vacate his allowance of judgment for Gove, stating that Casson had not appeared to oppose the motion and that Casson had become concerned about the Gove ruling only when he learned that the defendant attorneys were contending that he was liable for contribution because of that and other omissions. ⁵ Once he had allowed the motion to add Casson as a third-party defendant, the judge concluded that he had permitted "an intolerable situation" to be created and that he was compelled to disqualify Casson from continuing to serve as counsel for the plaintiffs. He directed the entry of an order disqualifying Casson from acting for the plaintiffs in this case or for so long as any case similarly challenging the quality of his services to the plaintiffs as their counsel in this suit was pending. ⁶

Before considering the questions raised on this appeal, we briefly discuss the statute of limitations. An action in tort for damages arising out of any deficiency or neglect in the construction of an improvement to realty must be commenced within three years after the cause of action accrues. G.L. c. 260, § 2B, as amended through St.1973, c. 777, § 2, as applicable to this case. In Klein v. Catalano, 386 Mass. 701, 718-719, 437 N.E.2d 514 (1982), we held that, although § 2B refers only to actions in tort, the purpose underlying § 2B required that recovery likewise must be denied on the parallel theory of breach of an implied warranty arising out of the same facts. We viewed as different a claim based on an express warranty of a certain result. Id. at 720, 437 N.E.2d 514. Thus, for example, if Gove had promised to perform his work according to specific plans and specifications, the six-year statute of limitations for contract actions would apply. G.L. c. 260, § 2 (1986 ed.). On this record, we are unable to say whether the six-year statute of limitations has any application to the plaintiffs' claim against Gove.

We now address first the defendant attorneys' claim that the order disqualifying Casson from representing the plaintiffs is not an appealable interlocutory order. We conclude that the order is properly subject to interlocutory review only to the extent that it is challenged on the basis of issues that are collateral to the underlying dispute in the case. An issue is collateral to the underlying dispute if it is one that will not have to be considered at trial. In this case, issues that are not collateral include the plaintiffs' claim against Gove (its nature and the applicable statute of limitations) and the question whether the defendant attorneys were negligent. As to those issues that are collateral, we see no error in the order of disqualification.

We start with the premise, not challenged by the plaintiffs, that as long as Casson is a third-party defendant in this action or the defendant attorneys properly assert a claim of contribution against Casson, he should not act for the plaintiffs in this case. For example, in proving that the defendant attorneys were negligent in their handling of the plaintiffs' claim against Gove, Casson would be establishing one of the essential elements of the defendant attorneys' claim against him for contribution, that is, liability for the same injury. Under S.J.C. Rule 3:07, DR 5-105(B), as appearing in 382 Mass. 781 (1981), quoted in the margin, ⁷ Casson would be representing differing interests. In fact, he would have a personal interest contrary to that of his clients.

The plaintiffs argue that under S.J.C. Rule 3:07, DR 5-105(C), as appearing in 382 Mass. 781, 782 (1981), quoted in the margin, ⁸ they have consented to the multiple representation, and thus the disqualification order should be revoked. Several months after the disqualification order was entered, the plaintiffs executed an affidavit which states that, without surrendering any claim they may have against Casson, they wished to have him continue to represent them at least until the issues on appeal were decided. The affidavit does not present the kind of consent referred to in DR 5-105(C). Nor does it appear on the record that the plaintiffs received "full disclosure of the possible effect of [the multiple] representation on the exercise of [Casson's] independent professional judgment on behalf of each [client]." We doubt whether DR 5-105(C) can be applied to justify representation of a client when the attorney is a third-party defendant for the purposes of contribution, whether or not he represents himself. In any event, even if there was valid consent, it is certainly not "obvious," in the words of DR 5-105(C), that Casson "can adequately represent the interest[s]" of both the plaintiffs and himself. See Unified Sewerage Agency of Wash. County, Or. v. Jelco Inc., 646 F.2d 1339, 1350 (9th Cir.1981); Rice v. Baron, 456 F.Supp. 1361, 1376 (S.D.N.Y.1978).

Therefore, unless the plaintiffs can establish that Casson should not be a party and is not a proper target for contribution and can do so within the permissible limits of interlocutory review, the disqualification order must stand.

As a general rule, there is no right to appeal from an interlocutory order unless a statute or rule authorizes it. See Breault v. Chairman of the Bd. of Fire Comm'rs of Springfield, 401 Mass. 26, 30, 513 N.E.2d 1277 (1987), cert. denied sub nom. Forastiere v. Breault, 485 U.S. 906 S.Ct. 1078, 99 L.Ed.2d 237 (1988); CUNA Mut. Ins. Soc'y v. Attorney Gen., 380 Mass. 539, 540, 404 N.E.2d 1219 (1980); Borman v. Borman, 378 Mass. 775, 778-779, 393 N.E.2d 847 (1979); Mancuso v. Mancuso, 10 Mass.App.Ct. 395, 401 n. 6, 408 N.E.2d 652 (1980); G.L. c. 231, § 118 (1986 ed.); Mass.R.Civ.P. 64, 365 Mass. 831 (1974). In the Borman case, we recognized a long-standing exception to the general rule (see Vincent v. Plecker, 319 Mass. 560, 564, 67 N.E.2d 145 [1946] ): if an interlocutory order will interfere with rights in a way that cannot be remedied on appeal, the doctrine of present execution may permit the appeal. Borman v. Borman, supra 378 Mass. at 779-780, 393 N.E.2d 847. In some of our older cases applying the principle, the consequences of the immediate implementation of an interlocutory order plainly could not be cured on appeal. See, e.g., Ferrick v. Barry, 320 Mass. 217, 219, 68 N.E.2d 690 (1946) (an order to wind up the affairs of a partnership and distribute assets); Plumer v. Houghton & Dutton Co., 277 Mass. 209, 212-213, 178 N.E. 716 (1931) (order to sell all the debtor's assets).

There are other cases...