Utah Law Developments
| Publication year | 2023 |
| Pages | 33 |
Utah Law Developments
Appellate Highlights
by Rodney R. Parker, Dani Cepernich, Robert Cummings, Nathanael Mitchell, and Andrew Roth
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following appellate cases of interest were recently decided by the Utah Supreme Court, Utah Court of Appeals, and United States Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. The following summaries have been prepared by the authoring attorneys listed above, who are solely responsible for their content.
Utah Supreme Court
State v. Miller
2023 UT 3, 527 P.3d 1087 (March 16, 2023)
Rule 4(c) saves State's premature notice of appeal, filed three years before final judgment. The court reasoned that there was "no doubt" that the order finalized the court's oral ruling from three years prior, even though that order had been decided by a different judge. The court also held that a victim of stalking need not know that the defendant is the source of the emotional distress the stalking is causing.
Hi-Country Ests. Homeowners Assoc. v. Frank, 2023 UT 7 &
Hi-Country Ests. Homeowners Assoc. v. Mountaintop Props., LLC,
2023 UT 8, 529 P.3d 337 (March 16, 2023)
An HOA formed in 1973 sued homeowners for past-due assessments. When the HOA was formed, it owned only eight of the 2,000 acres included in the HOA today. The court held that the lot owners ratified the defective HOA documents and therefore owed the HOA past-due assessments. Rejecting a statute of frauds challenge, the court held that the HOA members' decades-long treatment of the HOA as a legitimate governing entity, constitutes ratification of the HOA's authority and satisfies the statute of frauds.
Utah Court of Appeals
State v. Elkface
2023 UT App 24, 527 P.3d 820 (March 9, 2023)
Vacating sentences based upon ineffective assistance of counsel, the court of appeals held counsel performed deficiently by failing to seek disqualification of the judge or obtain a valid waiver, where the judge would have been subject to disqualification under Rule 2.11(A) due to his prior involvement with the defendant.
Nielsen v. LeBaron
2023 UT App 29, 527 P.3d 1133 (March 23, 2023)
This appeal arose out of a legal malpractice action stemming from allegations that counsel failed to deposit settlement funds in a minor's trust account. The lower court dismissed after concluding that counsel did not owe continuing duties to ensure that conservators appropriately...
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