The Appellate Group

GeoMetWatch Corp. v. Durham Jones & Pinegar

GeoMetWatch Corp. v. Durham Jones & Pinegar, 2026 UT App 93
(Mortensen, J.)

Civil Law

The Utah Court of Appeals held:

(1) The district court did not err in granting summary judgment to Durham Jones. Because the identical issue of causation was fully and fairly litigated in a prior federal action, the district court correctly applied issue preclusion to dismiss GeoMetWatch’s lost profits theories.

(2) GeoMetWatch failed to proffer nonspeculative evidence that Durham Jones caused the destruction of its business value.

Practice tip:

Because causation is a crucial and distinct element to a legal malpractice claim, an abundance of evidence as to breach of duty cannot make up for a deficiency of evidence as to causation..

Read the full court opinion