Herman Spencer, Plaintiff-Petitioner v. Paul Barber, Barber & Borg, L.L.C., and Ellen Sam, as Personal…

Summary

The New Mexico Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals, holding that genuine issues of material fact exist as to whether Barber breached his duty to Spencer, so summary judgment on the malpractice claim was improper, and that Spencer’s independent tort claims are not barred by the adversarial exception in Leyba. The Court affirmed that the Rules of Professional Conduct guide the scope of an attorney’s duty to statutory beneficiaries and that the adversarial exception does not preclude traditional tort actions.