Patton v. Johnson

SELYA, Circuit Judge.

Over time, this case has become a procedural motley. In its current iteration, defendant-appellant Barry Johnson emphasizes his association with the Johnson Law Firm (JLF) in attempting to compel the plaintiffs, Rickie Patton and his wife Cathleen Marquardt, to arbitrate various tort claims (including their claims of legal malpractice). The district court, adopting a magistrate judge's report and recommendation (R&R) 1 and applying principles of collateral estoppel derived from Rhode Island law, determined that the appellant was barred from relitigating his contention…