Case Summaries

Kiernan Family Draper v. Hidden Valley Health Centers

Utah Supreme Court 2021 UT 54 (Click for full text) The Utah Supreme Court upheld dismissal of a breach-of-contract claim for exceeding the scope of a contractual parking easement as beyond the 6-year statute of limitations for contracts, and concluded that in so limiting the claim, the court did not wrongfully grant an effectively greater easement interest than had been...
September 2, 2021

McKitrick v. Gibson

Utah Supreme Court 2021 UT 48 (click for full text of opinion) In this government records appeal case, the Utah Supreme Court held that a statutory claimant must have statutory standing, and the presence of traditional or alternative standing will not cure a statutory deficiency. (The Court’s holding in this case likely has relevant application to other statutory standing processes...
August 20, 2021

Croft v. Morgan County

Utah Supreme Court 2021 UT 46 (Click for full text) The Utah Supreme Court clarified the procedural standards for a citizen challenge to a local land use law by referendum, holding that the citizens’ challenge to the denial of their referendum petition was properly filed in district court and not as an extraordinary writ to the Utah Supreme Court. A...
August 12, 2021

North Mill St., LLC v. City of Aspen

United States 10th Circuit Court of Appeals 6 F.4th 1216 (click for full text of opinion) The 10th Circuit denied a regulatory takings claim under the 5th amendment of the federal constitution as unripe because despite the City’s denial of a rezone application, the property owner had not alternatively sought a planned development review that would have otherwise allowed the...
July 27, 2021

M.N.V. Holdings v. 200 South

Utah Court of Appeals 2021 UT App 76 (Click for full text) The Utah Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s dismissal of a suit to recognize a prescriptive easement.  Background: A developer recently purchased two contiguous parcels of property (“Property”) on the northwest corner of 200 South and State Street, which is occupied by a fast-food restaurant and a...
July 9, 2021

In re Estate of D.A. Osguthorpe

Utah Supreme Court 2021 UT 23 (Click for full text). The Utah Supreme Court reversed the decision of the district court excluding the introduction of an affidavit as evidence for containing privileged mediation statements because the court unreasonably excluded the affidavit in its entirety, when it could have admitted a redacted version that omitted any statements considered privileged mediation communications....
July 1, 2021

Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid

United States Supreme Court 594 U.S. __ (2021). Click for full text Background In 1975, California enacted the Agricultural Labor Relations Act (“ALRA”), which, among other things, created the Agricultural Labor Relations Board (“the Board”). The Board enacted a regulation allowing union organizers access to agricultural employees at employer worksites under specific circumstances. Cedar Point Nursery operates a nursery that...
June 23, 2021

Hansen v. Kurry Jensen Properties

Utah Court of Appeals 2021 UT App 54 (Click for full text) The Utah Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s decision regarding a residential boundary line which had been acquired by acquiescence.  Background. The Jensen property and the Hansen property share a deeded boundary line running north and south. In 1977 and 1983 — respectively — former owners of...
May 27, 2021

Kodiak America v. Summit County

Utah Court of Appeals 2021 UT App 47 (Click for full text) The Utah Court of Appeals ruled that a property owner was not barred from challenging a stop-work notice that was previously the subject of court action litigated only between the County and a third-party neighbor, whereas the property owner had not been joined as a party to that...
April 15, 2021

Staker v. Town of Springdale

Utah Court of Appeals 2020 UT App 174 (December 31, 2020) The Utah Court of Appeals upheld the Town’s denial of a conditional use permit for a parking under the Town’s standard that the proposed use not “unreasonably interfere with the lawful use of surrounding properties.” The Court of Appeals found that the Town had not misinterpreted “lawful use” to...
December 31, 2020