Justia Arizona Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

In April 2008, plaintiff American Asphalt sued CMX for professional negligence and breach of implied warranty. On October 1, 2008, the superior court issued an order informing plaintiff that if it did not file a motion to set as required by Ariz. R. Civ. P. 38.1(e), the case would be placed on the inactive calendar after January 20, 2009 and dismissed without further notice after March 23, 2009. American did not file a motion to set and the case was dismissed without further notice on April 29, 2009. Plaintiff moved to set aside the dismissal, contending that its failure to comply with Rule 38.1(a) was excusable because it had substituted counsel around the time of the Rule 38.1(d) filing deadline. The superior court denied the motion. The court of appeals affirmed, finding no excusable neglect partly because the court's order provided notice as required by the rule. On review, the Supreme Court vacated the court of appeals' decision and remanded, holding that a notice issued several months prior to placing the case on the inactive calendar does not comply with the rule because the rule requires contemporaneous notice when a case is placed on the inactive calendar. View "American Asphalt & Grading Co. v. CMX, L.L.C." on Justia Law

In this lawsuit, one of several suits alleging construction defects in homes located in a Shea Homes planned community, plaintiffs Albert Albano and other homeowners appealed to the circuit court from the district court's summary judgment dismissing their construction-defect claims against Shea Homes as barred by Arizona's statute of repose. The plaintiffs were three homeowners not allowed to join a previous putative class action against Shea Homes. On appeal, plaintiffs contended that the district court erred in failing to apply American Pipe v. Utah, which tolls the applicable statute of limitations for non-named class members until class certification is denied, to the period between the filing of the previous putative class action lawsuit and the denial of class certification. The Supreme Court accepted jurisdiction to answer the certified question of whether the American Pipe tolling rule would also apply to a statute of repose. The Court held that the class-action tolling doctrine does not apply to statutes of repose, and more specifically, to the statute of repose for construction defects. View "Albano v. Shea Homes Ltd." on Justia Law

After the superior court issued a decree dissolving the marriage of Sue Craig and Roger Craig, Roger timely filed a motion for a new trial or to amend the decree. Before the court ruled on Roger's motion, Sue filed a notice of appeal. Roger then cross-appealed. The superior court denied Roger's motion, and neither party filed a new or amended notice of appeal. A divided court of appeals dismissed both appeals for lack of jurisdiction, finding the rule stated in Barassi v. Matison that appellate courts should dismiss for lack of jurisdiction the case where a litigant attempts to appeal where a motion is still pending in the trial court applied. On review, the Supreme Court affirmed, finding the Barassi rule applies even when the notice of appeal is filed by a non-moving party. View "Craig v. Craig" on Justia Law