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Lyphomed Inc. v. Superior Court3/19/1992
an estoppel claim by proceeding in the face of the uncertainty that had arisen when they were unequivocally told that the answer to the interrogatory was a mistake and LyphoMed was claiming that the hospital and others were at fault. In short, at the time the plaintiffs finalized the agreement with the hospital, it was not reasonable for them to rely on the answer to the interrogatory. That is true even though their argument is couched in terms of their asserted belief that LyphoMed was, as a matter of law, bound by its answer to the interrogatory. Since the statute and rule relating to the notice of nonparties at fault were open to interpretation, and since the attempt to amend was made more than thirty days before the date of trial, plaintiffs' counsel was by no means on solid ground in this belief. Rule 6(b), Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure, allows the court to enlarge the time for compliance with the rules. Rule V(a)(3) of the Uniform Rules of Practice for Maricopa County expressly allows relief from a failure to disclose a nonparty at fault for good cause shown. Had LyphoMed's motions been heard before the settlement was entered, the plaintiffs, bereft of the ability to show prejudice, would have been hard put to find a reason why the motions ought not be granted. See Ariz.R.Civ.P. 26(e)(1); and Greco v. Manolakos, 24 Ariz. App. 490, 539 P.2d 964 (1975) (abuse of discretion to exclude evidence for failure to supplement answer to interrogatory where defendant suffered no prejudice).
In summary, on the record before us, we believe the trial Judge erred in concluding that LyphoMed was required to give notice pursuant to A.R.S. ยง 12-2506 of the fault of other parties to the action. The trial Judge seems to have given too little weight to the factors that supported the explanation of LyphoMed's counsel for providing a negative answer to the interrogatory, and even according his decision on that point the greatest deference, clearly abused his discretion in finding justifiable reliance on the part of the plaintiffs. Since the parties have not raised the matter, we do not address what effect our opinion might have on the validity of the settlement between the plaintiffs and hospital. Our ruling makes it unnecessary to address the issue of invited error raised by the plaintiffs based on additional motions made after the Judge had ruled as we describe above.
The order of this court dated September 25, 1991, accepting jurisdiction and granting relief, and the order of September 27, 1991, clarifying the relief granted are affirmed. The trier of fact, if it finds the defendant LyphoMed liable, shall assess the percentage of LyphoMed's fault by considering the fault of the hospital and its employees and the physician identified as nonparties at fault. LyphoMed may pursue discovery to disclose fault on the part of these entities and persons and may offer evidence of such fault at trial. LyphoMed may amend its interrogatory answers in accordance with the terms of Rule 26(e), Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure.
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