Utah Associated Mun. Power Sys. v. 3 Dimensional Contractors
Utah Associated Mun. Power Sys. v. 3 Dimensional Contractors, 2024 UT App 35 (Harris, J.)
Property
Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) owned an easement over property that Benzer was developing. UAMPS and Benzer sued each other, and the district court eventually granted summary judgment in favor of UAMPS and dismissed Benzer’s easement realignment claim under Utah Code section 10-8-14.5 after the court excluded its expert witness from testifying. Benzer appealed, and the Utah Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding in relevant part:
- The district court should not have barred Benzer’s experts from testifying at trial; it should have limited their testimony to matters “fairly disclosed” in their reports.
- Practice tip: The fact that a party does not file a notice of claim under the Utah Governmental Immunity Act (the UGIA) before filing a counterclaim is not a basis for dismissal of its counterclaim where the claims are for injunctive and declaratory relief rather than monetary damages.
- Other issues: The court considered many other issues in this case, including attorney fees, and decided the realignment issue based on statutory interpretation grounds.