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Dutt v. Kremp12/22/1992
records and how to interpret them.” Dutt contacted no physicians prior to filing the complaint. He did not even bother to contact the physicians who succeeded the respondent physicians in caring for his client. Moreover, at no time prior to filing the complaint did he have a qualified health care provider or physician review the medical records to determine whether a cause of action for medical malpractice existed. In short, there had been no responsible preparation undertaken to determine whether malpractice had occurred before Dutt filed the complaint.
Additionally, Dutt was irresponsible in his response to discovery, denying requests for admissions instead of forthrightly admitting the truth of the requests. As a result, respondent physicians' counsel was forced to depose a California physician, Dr. Domz, whom Dutt identified as having information concerning the respondent physicians' negligence. Dutt did not even bother to appear at the taking of Dr. Domz's deposition. Moreover, Dr. Domz, who testified during his deposition that he had no criticism of respondent physicians' treatment of Dutt's client, had never been contacted by Dutt, either before Dutt prepared the answer to interrogatory noted above for his client's signature, or at any time thereafter. Furthermore, almost two months after Dr. Domz was deposed, Dutt wrote Al Pagni, attorney for three of the respondent physicians, and informed him that he had told Dr. Kremp's attorney that he would not dismiss the action “until after the depositions came back in the event that Dr. Domz did suggest that the treatment did not meet the standard of care that one should expect from this area.” Although Dutt did not have sufficient belief that Dr. Domz would testify negatively about the respondent physicians to prompt him to undertake the expense of attending the California physician's deposition, he clearly hoped that something might turn up that would provide a liability peg on which to hang his hat.
Finally, with no medical evidence, testimony or evaluation that
[108 Nev. 1076, Page 1087]
would support his cryptic complaint against the Reno team of physicians, Dutt still attempted to effectuate a nuisance settlement with attorney Osborne, counsel for Dr. Kremp.
Doubly troubling in this case is the fact that it appears from the record that the respondent doctors were especially vigilant and effective in their treatment and care of Dutt's client despite Dutt's flippant testimony at trial ascribing their successful and difficult diagnosis to luck. In fine, it appears that the physicians sued by Dutt effectively and skillfully applied their expertise and care in treating Dutt's client, and were rewarded by the filing of Dutt's ill-advised and desultory complaint.
On these facts, it is little wonder that the respondent physicians insisted on having their efforts and their reputations vindicated in a trial against their uninformed, precipitant tormentor, attorney Dutt. I suggest that there is also little cause to wonder why the jury provided the respondent physicians with the vindication they sought from the civil justice system.
If society is to have any confidence in the legal system and the administration of justice within our courts, there must be an accountability for derelict lawyers that is equal to the level of accountability we impose on derelict physicians and other professionals. As I view this record, the evidence strongly supports the jury's findings against Dutt. Plainly stated, the jury, by its verdict, announced that lawyers are not privileged to assail the reputation of physicians in court and subject them to the trauma and cost of a lawsuit with its concomitant a
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