The Nevada Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed the lawsuit by longtime Carson builder Garth Richards accusing his former Silver Oak development partner Steve Hartman of cheating him out of several
million dollars.
The suit filed in December 2003 charged that Hartman and the Allison/MacKenzie law firm convinced Richards to let Hartman join the development as a partner who could handle the legal aspects of the project and help manage it. It charged that Hartman and the law firm violated numerous ethical and legal rules controlling how lawyers operate, misrepresented or failed to disclose material facts and acted with malice to damage Silver Oak after the partnership ended.
Silver Oak, which includes the golf course in north Carson City, is the largest development project in the capital's history.
The high court ruled this week that since legal malpractice claims are subject to the statute of limitations and Richards waited more than four years to sue, the suit is barred.