Ronald Howes v. New Mexico Department of Health

Albuquerque, New Mexico civil litigation lawyer represented the Plaintiff on a breach of contract claim.



Dr. Ronald Howes is clinical psychologist who contracts with hospitals around the nation

through [a] placement firm, Ap.Contractor.com.” App. at 11. In turn, AP-Contractor.com

relies on another firm, Locumtenens,2 to provide "support and placement services” for the

medical professionals it places at hospitals around the country. Supp. App. Vol. I at 12.

Locumtenens entered into a contract (the "Services Contract”) with Defendant New

Mexico Department of Health ("NMDOH”) for Dr. Howes to work at the New Mexico

Behavioral Health Institute ("NMBHI”), starting in May 2020. The Services Contract

was a "standard contract issued by [NMDOH] for services, and gave [NMDOH] rights to

unilaterally terminate this contract while requiring [Locumtenens] to give 30 days' notice

and an opportunity to cure.” App. at 12. Dr. Howes claims he was a third-party

beneficiary of the Services Contract.



* * *



In New Mexico, the general rule is that "one who is not a party to a contract

cannot maintain suit upon it.” Great Am. Ins. Co. of N.Y. v. W. States Fire Prot. Co., 730

F. Supp. 2d 1308, 1316 (D.N.M. 2009) (quoting Fleet Mortg. Corp. v. Schuster, 811 P.2d

81, 82 (N.M. 1991)). However, "[a] third party may be a beneficiary of such contract, and

as a beneficiary may have an enforceable right against a party to a contract.” Fleet Mortg.

Corp., 811 P.2d at 82; Callahan v. N.M. Fed'n of Tchrs.-TVI, 131 P.3d 51, 58 (N.M.

2006) ("A third-party may have an enforceable right against an actual party to a contract

if the third-party is a beneficiary of the contract.”). "A third-party is a beneficiary if the

actual parties to the contract intended to benefit the third-party.” Callahan, 131 P.3d at

58. Otherwise, the individual is an "incidental beneficiary,” which is "a person who is

neither the promisee of a contract nor the party to whom performance is to be rendered

[but who] will derive a benefit from its performance.” Fleet Mortg. Corp., 811 P.2d at 83

(alteration in original) (citation omitted).

Affirmed