Janis v. Gorry, Meyer & Rudd
Plaintiffs filed a first amended complaint against defendants and respondents Gorry, Meyer, & Rudd and Timothy J. Gorry alleging causes of action for legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty. Defendants filed a cross-complaint for unpaid attorney fees. This is an appeal by plaintiffs from a summary judgment in favor of defendants on the first amended complaint, and from terminating sanctions and a money judgment in favor of defendants on the cross-complaint for unpaid attorney fees. Plaintiffs contend summary judgment was improper in that the summary judgment motion addressed the superseded original complaint containing one cause of action for legal malpractice, rather than the operative first amended complaint which added a second cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty. Plaintiffs further contend the trial court erred in imposing terminating sanctions for plaintiffs failure to complete depositions as ordered. Plaintiffs also argue the unpaid attorney fees award was without notice, an abuse of discretion, and not supported by substantial evidence. We reverse the summary judgment on plaintiffs first amended complaint, because the motion for summary judgment did not address both causes of action of the first amended complaint. Court reject plaintiffs contentions concerning terminating sanctions on defendants cross complaint and affirm the judgment awarding unpaid attorney fees to defendants.
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