Walter C. Urbigkit

This case involves post-divorce disputes between former spouses over modification of child support, tax exemptions for the children, offsets against unpaid expenses, medical bill claims, and discovery of financial information. The district court granted the father's request to reduce monthly child support, allowed an offset of an insurance check against camp expenses, ordered the mother to sign over tax exemptions for 1990 onward, denied her claim for unpaid medical expenses, limited discovery via a protective order, and denied her request for attorney fees while ordering payment of certain arrearages. On appeal, the Wyoming Supreme Court reversed only the child support reduction, holding that the original agreement and statutory guidelines did not support lowering the amount, and affirmed all other district court rulings as within its discretion or supported by the evidence.

family lawprocedure

The case involved a suit by Hess against Gose to collect on a promissory note originally held by a failed bank and transferred by the FDIC, after Gose attempted a counterclaim seeking a $3,000 set-off for a payment made on a separate note to a different failed bank also taken over by the FDIC. The trial court entered summary judgment for the full principal, accrued interest, costs, and attorney fees. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed, ruling that Wyo. Stat. § 1-1-106 did not authorize the set-off because the notes were separate and distinct with no mutuality of obligation, as the FDIC acted in different capacities as receiver for each bank and the payment notation prevented reallocation. The court further held that the 21% contractual interest rate applied to the judgment under the amended Wyo. Stat. § 1-16-102(b) and that attorney fees were properly supported by the record.

business & regulatoryprocedure

This case involved a wrongful death claim arising from a 1987 car accident at a Wyoming road construction site, where the plaintiff's son was killed after the driver lost control of the vehicle near unfinished utility work in the northbound lane. The plaintiff sued the construction contractors, Kloefkorn-Ballard and 71 Construction, alleging negligence for failing to erect warning signs or barriers for southbound traffic as required by their contracts and common law duties. The trial court granted summary judgment to the contractors, finding no duty to warn southbound drivers about northbound construction hazards and no genuine issues of material fact. On appeal, the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment in favor of 71 Construction but reversed as to Kloefkorn-Ballard, determining that factual disputes existed regarding the latter's potential liability and duty to warn. The decision turned on application of summary judgment standards in negligence actions and analysis of whether the contractors' obligations extended to the specific traffic direction involved in the accident.

proceduretorts & liability

The case involved a wrongful death suit brought by Susan McKennan, as personal representative of Terry McKennan's estate, against his employer Wyoming Sawmills after Terry died in a workplace accident involving an auger. McKennan alleged that the employment was unlawful due to multiple violations of the Wyoming Occupational Health and Safety Act, which would remove the bar of the exclusive remedy provision in the Wyoming Worker’s Compensation Act, and that the wrongful death statute allowed claims outside that system. The district court dismissed the complaint as barred by the state constitution and worker’s compensation statutes. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed, holding that OHSA violations do not render otherwise lawful employment unlawful under precedent such as Mauch v. Stanley Structures, and that employer immunity under worker’s compensation applies regardless of negligence or safety violations.

labor & employmenttorts & liability

This case involved a biological father's challenge to a district court's order granting the adoption of his four minor children by their mother's new husband without his consent. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's ruling, holding that the father had a common law and statutory duty to support his children even though the divorce decree did not specify an amount due to lack of personal jurisdiction. The court found clear and convincing evidence that the father willfully failed to contribute to the children's support for the year before the adoption petition was filed, satisfying the requirements of W.S. 1-22-110(a)(iv) to proceed without consent. The decision rested on the father's steady employment and knowledge of the children's needs, without any justifiable excuse for non-support, while declining to address the alternative abandonment ground.

family law

The case involved David Swazo's petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of a district court's denial of post-conviction relief in his underlying criminal case under Wyoming statutes. The Wyoming Supreme Court granted Swazo's motion to proceed in forma pauperis but denied his motion for appointment of counsel and the petition for writ of certiorari without further explanation. A dissenting justice contended that the court was obligated to review the denial because Wyoming law permits post-conviction claims of constitutional violations that could not have been raised on direct appeal, such as those involving new rules of constitutional law. The majority's order effectively declined to examine the merits of the post-conviction petition.

criminal lawprocedure