UTAH COURT OF APPEALS TO HEAR ORAL ARGUMENTS IN WASHINGTON COUNTY

UTAH COURT OF APPEALS TO HEAR ORAL ARGUMENTS IN WASHINGTON COUNTY

Salt Lake City, UT - The Utah Court of Appeals will hold a special oral argument session at Utah Tech University in St. George on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. The session, which is open to the public, will take place in the Zion Room of the Holland Centennial Commons & Library Building, located at 225 S University Ave, 225 S 700 E. The judicial panel will be comprised of Associate Presiding Judge Ryan M. Harris, Judge Ryan D. Tenney, and Judge Amy J. Oliver. The panel will hear the following cases:

Musser v. Apple Valley 20241334 - 10:00 a.m.

In November 2021, Daniel N. Musser entered into an agreement with William Dale Beddo, the mayor of Apple Valley, for employment as chief of the police and fire departments. Musser and Beddo signed the contract, and Musser began working in his role. Concerns were raised that the Apple Valley Town Council had been unable to confirm the appointment of Musser, as required pursuant to Utah Code and Apple Valley Policies and Procedures. In December, Beddo approached the Town Council with a resolution to confirm Musser's appointment. Only three of the five council members participated in the vote-two voting for Musser's appointment and one voting against it-despite Apple Valley's requirement that a majority of the Town Council must vote in the affirmative for a motion to be adopted. In January 2022, Diana Mason Walters took office as the new mayor, and sent Musser a letter terminating his employment.

Musser sued Apple Valley, Walters, and the members of the Town Council. The defendants moved for summary judgment, which the district court granted. The district court granted summary judgment on the grounds that (1) Musser's appointment was not approved, (2) the employment contract was invalid because it was executed in violation of the statute requiring the Town Council to confirm Musser's appointment, (3) the employment contract was void because it offended public policy by not being executed with the advice and consent of the Town Council, and (4) Musser was properly terminated because his invalid employment contract meant that he was never entitled to employment with Apple Valley or the benefits the contract provided. Musser now appeals the grant of summary judgment.

PCVI v. Brown, Brown, and Premsrirut 20241227 - 10:45 a.m.

Entrepreneur Anthony Hsieh and his company PCVI signed an engagement letter with a Nevada law firm, enabling the firm to oversee the legal affairs of Hsieh, PCVI, and any of their "respective affiliates." The engagement letter contained several forum-selection clauses that restricted any litigation resulting from the firm's representation to be commenced and maintained in the state of Nevada.

One of the lawyers at the firm directed and oversaw the purchase of a ranch resort in Utah for $25 million, all in Hsieh's name. Unbeknownst to the lawyer, the ranch's water rights had been subject to litigation for over forty years and, as a result, the ranch was valued nearly $7 million less than what Hsieh paid for it. After Hsieh's death, his father was appointed as the administrator of Hsieh's estate, which included PCVI and the ranch. PCVI and the ranch subsequently sued the lawyer and the firm in Utah court for legal malpractice, arguing, among other things, that Hsieh was incapacitated at the time he signed the engagement letter and that the lawyer was negligent in her purchase of the ranch. The firm responded by filing a motion to dismiss the complaint for improper venue and the district court granted that motion.

PCVI and the ranch now appeal, arguing that the district court erred in granting the motion to dismiss for the following reasons: (1) the forum-selection clauses of the engagement letter did not apply to the Utah ranch, (2) Hsieh was incapacitated at the time of signing the engagement letter, and (3) enforcing the engagement letter's forum-selection clauses violated Utah public policy by allowing a Nevada-licensed lawyer to practice in Utah. The lawyer and the firm refute these claims, arguing instead that (1) the forum-selection clauses applied to the ranch as an "affiliate" of PCVI, (2) PCVI failed to show that Hsieh was incapacitated at the time of the signing, and (3) the enforcement of the clauses did not violate Utah public policy.

Please note that these case summaries have been prepared for educational purposes only, as a convenience to students, the public, and the press. They have been prepared by court staff and do not necessarily reflect the judges' views about the case.

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