Reilly v. Pansing Hogan Ernst & Bachman

── Reilly v. Pansing Hogan Ernst & Bachman ── Court: Nebraska Court of Appeals Date: May 19, 2026 Category: General Nebraska Supreme Court Online Library www.nebraska.gov/apps-courts-epub/ 05/19/2026 08:20 AM CDT - 285 - Nebraska Court of Appeals Advance Sheets 34 Nebraska Appellate Reports REILLY v. PANSING HOGAN ERNST & BACHMAN Cite as 34 Neb. App. 285 Christine K. Reilly, individually, and Christine K. Reilly, derivatively on behalf of the George J. Kubat Revocable Trust and the Estate of George J. Kubat, appellants, v. Pansing Hogan Ernst & Bachman LLP and Thomas R. Pansing, appellees. ___ N.W.3d ___ Filed May 19, 2026. No. A-25-216. 1. Actions: Parties: Standing: Judgments: Jurisdiction: Appeal and Error. Whether a party who commences an action has standing and is therefore the real party in interest presents a jurisdictional issue. A juris- dictional issue that does not involve a factual dispute presents a question of law, which the appellate courts independently decide. 2. Trial: Evidence: Appeal and Error. A trial court has the discretion to determine the relevancy and admissibility of evidence, and such deter- minations will not be disturbed on appeal unless they constitute an abuse of that discretion. 3. Negligence. Whether a legal duty exists for actionable negligence is a question of law dependent on the facts in a particular case. 4. Summary Judgment: Appeal and Error. An appellate court reviews the district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo, viewing the record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and drawing all reasonable inferences in that party’s favor. 5. ____: ____. An appellate court will affirm a lower court’s grant of sum- mary judgment if the pleadings and admitted evidence show that there is no genuine issue as to any material facts or as to the ultimate inferences that may be drawn from those facts and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. 6. Standing: Jurisdiction: Parties. Standing is a jurisdictional component of a party’s case, because only a party who has standing may invoke the jurisdiction of a court.  - 286 - Nebraska Court of Appeals Advance Sheets 34 Nebraska Appellate Reports REILLY v. PANSING HOGAN ERNST & BACHMAN Cite as 34 Neb. App. 285 7. ____: ____: ____. Standing refers to whether a party had, at the com- mencement of the litigation, a personal stake in the outcome of the litigation that would warrant a court’s exercise of its subject matter jurisdiction and remedial powers on that party’s behalf. 8. Standing: Parties. To have standing, the plaintiff must have some legal or equitable right, title, or interest in the subject matter of the controversy. 9. Decedents’ Estates: Actions: Standing. Under the Nebraska Probate Code, the right and duty to sue and recover assets for an estate reside not in the devisees, but in the estate’s appointed personal representative, or, if the personal representative cannot or should not act, the appointed special administrator. 10. Decedents’ Estates. A person interested in the estate may petition for