Bryner v. Cardon Outreach, LLC

Justice Himonas, opinion of the Court:

INTRODUCTION

¶1 The question before us is not a particularly thorny one: what is the correct interpretation of Utah's Hospital Lien Statute? See UTAH CODE § 38-7-1. Recognizing that this question is purely one of law, the parties sensibly agreed to stay discovery and filed cross-motions for summary judgment at the outset of the case.

¶2 The plaintiffs 1 argued that the Hospital Lien Statute "requires a hospital to pay its proportional share of an injured person's attorney fees and costs when a hospital lien is paid due to the efforts of the injured person…