Kiribati Seafood Company, LLC v. Crovo (Lawyers Weekly No. 12-162-16)
1 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, ss. SUPERIOR COURT SUCV2014-02851-BLS2 KIRIBATI SEAFOOD COMPANY, LLC, Plaintiff vs. M. DELACY CROVO, Defendant MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT Plaintiff Kiribati Seafood Company, LLC (Kiribati) filed this legal malpractice action against defendant M. Delacy Crovo (Delacy) seeking to recover damages flowing from Delacy’s alleged role in violating a Washington state court order against Kiribati. Kiribati’s Amended Complaint asserts both contract-based and negligence-based claims as well a violation of 93A. The case is now before this Court on the defendant’s motion for summary judgment. Specifically, the defendant contends that Kiribati’s claims are barred by the applicable statutes of limitations. This Court agrees, and therefore concludes that the Motion must be ALLOWED. BACKGROUND The relevant facts in the summary judgment record, viewed in the light most favorable to Kiribati, are as follows. Kiribati is a Washington state limited liability company formed in 2000 to own and operate a commercial fishing vessel. Currently, Kiribati is owned by Nicholas Coscia, who holds the majority interest, and a second individual with a minority interest named Steven Ross. 2 In 2000 and 2001, Kiribati refurbished a boat, the MADEE, with the expectation that it would be used in South Pacific commercial fishing operations. In 2001, the MADEE sustained damage due to a rudder failure. It was repaired in Tahiti, but suffered additional damage after a dry dock collapsed. Lawsuits ensued. Moran Windes & Wong, PLLC (MWW), a Seattle based law firm, represented Kiribati in an action brought in Hawaii related to the rudder failure. A French law firm, later acquired by the Paris office of Dechert, LLC (Dechert), represented Kiribati on its claim for damages to the MADEE sustained in the dry dock collapse. Sometime in May 2010, Dechert on behalf of Kiribati, settled the dry dock collapse case, and the proceeds of the settlement (the Settlement Funds) were sent to Dechert. At the time of the settlement, Delacy’s brother Charles Crovo (Charles) was the majority owner of Kiribati, with Coscia holding a minority interest. Delacy is a Massachusetts attorney who has acted as (or held herself out to be) counsel for Kiribati at various times commencing in 2000. At the heart of this lawsuit is the role she played in the transfer of the Settlement Funds from Dechert to other entities. In a letter dated April 29, 2010 to Dechert’s Paris office (the April 2010 Letter), Delacy stated that she was Kiribati’s corporate attorney and that Charles Crovo was authorized to make all monetary decisions on Kiribati’s behalf. This letter was sent under Delacy’s married name, Marie D. Carlson, with a letterhead that read, “Law Offices of Marie Carlson.” Delacy sent a second letter, […]