ALWIN CARPENTER V. ALESSI & KOENIG, No. 13-17585 (9th Cir. 2015)

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FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS DEC 14 2015 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT ALWIN CARPENTER, Plaintiff - Appellant, No. 13-17585 D.C. No. 2:11-cv-01495-PMPGWF v. ALESSI & KOENIG, LLC, MEMORANDUM* Defendant - Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Nevada Philip M. Pro, Senior District Judge, Presiding Argued and Submitted December 9, 2015 San Francisco, California Before: KOZINSKI, BYBEE, and CHRISTEN, Circuit Judges. The district court abused its discretion by awarding Alessi & Koenig, LLC (“Alessi”) $5,843.75 in attorney’s fees. 1. Alessi constitutes a law firm retained by its clients to collect debts in the usual course of its practice. See Nev. Rev. Stat. § 649.020(2)(g). As such, it is * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. exempted from the requirement that it obtain a license from the State of Nevada before collecting claims on behalf of its clients. Id. § 649.075; see also Nev. Dep’t of Bus. & Indus., Fin. Insts. Div., Advisory Opinion Regarding Attorneys Acting as Collection Agencies (2012).1 2. However, given the ambiguity of the “conducting collection agencies” language in § 649.020(2) and that clarifying guidance from the State was not available until several months after Carpenter filed suit against Alessi, Carpenter’s claim was not brought “without reasonable ground.” Nev. Rev. Stat. § 18.010(2)(b). 3. Additionally, the district court’s order awarding fees to Alessi did not contain the mandated “find[ings]” necessary to support its decision. Id.; see also Rivero v. Rivero, 216 P.3d 213, 234 (Nev. 2009). REVERSED. 1 Available at http://fid.state.nv.us/AdvisoryOpinion/2012/2012-03-22_ OPINION_AttorneyActingAsCollectionAgency.pdf.

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