Australia Unlimited, Inc. v. Hartford Cas. Ins. Co.

198 P.3d 514
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedDecember 15, 2008
Docket61113-5-I
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 198 P.3d 514 (Australia Unlimited, Inc. v. Hartford Cas. Ins. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Australia Unlimited, Inc. v. Hartford Cas. Ins. Co., 198 P.3d 514 (Wash. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

198 P.3d 514 (2008)

AUSTRALIA UNLIMITED, INC., and James Klavano, its president, Appellants,
v.
HARTFORD CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY; and Potter, Leonard & Cahan, Inc., Respondents.

No. 61113-5-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

December 15, 2008.

*516 James Morton Beecher, Brent William Beecher, Law Offices of Hackett, Beecher & Hart, Seattle, WA, for Appellants.

Jerret E. Sale, Matthew J. Sekits, Deborah Lynn Carstens, Bullivant Houser Bailey PC, Seattle, WA, Matthew G. Johnson, Deborah A. Severson, Law Offices of Deborah A. Severson, Tacoma, WA, for Respondents.

COX, J.

¶ 1 An insurer's duty to defend arises "if the insurance policy conceivably covers the allegations in the complaint, whereas the duty to indemnify exists only if the policy actually covers the insured's liability."[1] Here, the complaint filed by Crocs, Inc., in the federal lawsuit in Colorado against Australia Unlimited (AU) alleges trade dress violations that are conceivably covered by the umbrella policy issued by The Hartford Casualty Insurance Co. Thus, Hartford had a duty to defend AU in that action. However, Hartford had no duty to defend AU either in the International Trade Commission proceeding seeking injunctive relief or the second lawsuit in Colorado by Crocs for breach of contract. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

¶ 2 AU, a Washington corporation, is the producer, importer, and distributor of NothinZ brand shoes. In 2006, Crocs commenced a proceeding before the United States International Trade Commission and a lawsuit in United States District Court in Colorado against AU and others. The complaints in both proceedings alleged claims for patent and trade dress infringement, among other things. AU tendered defense of both of these matters to its commercial general liability and umbrella insurer, Hartford. Hartford denied tender of both matters.

¶ 3 AU eventually settled both matters with Crocs. Shortly thereafter, Crocs brought a second suit in Colorado state court against AU for breach of the settlement agreement. The case was removed to federal district court. AU tendered defense of this suit to Hartford. Hartford denied this tender.

¶ 4 Potter, Leonard & Cahan, Inc. has served as an insurance agent to AU and its president for many years. The agency selected and sold to AU the Hartford CGL and umbrella policies at issue.

¶ 5 AU commenced this action in Washington against Hartford claiming breach of contract, bad faith, and violation of the state Consumer Protection Act for Hartford's refusal to defend AU in the three proceedings. AU also sued Potter, Leonard & Cahan for negligently failing to select and sell to AU a policy with the necessary provisions to ensure defense against the three proceedings.

¶ 6 The trial court granted summary judgment to Hartford. It later granted summary dismissal of the claim against Potter, Leonard & Cahan.

¶ 7 AU appeals.

DUTY TO DEFEND

¶ 8 AU argues that summary judgment was improper because Hartford had a duty *517 to defend all three proceedings that Crocs initiated. We agree in part.

¶ 9 A motion for summary judgment may be granted when there is no genuine issue as to any material fact, and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.[2] The construction of an insurance contract is a question of law.[3]

¶ 10 Courts construe insurance policies as contracts.[4] The court considers the policy as a whole, and gives it a "`fair, reasonable, and sensible construction as would be given to the contract by the average person purchasing insurance.'"[5] Most importantly, if the policy language is clear and unambiguous, the court must enforce it as written and may not modify it or create ambiguity where none exists.[6] Courts interpreting insurance policies are bound by definitions provided therein.[7]

¶ 11 Woo v. Fireman's Fund Insurance Co.[8] recently summarized the law governing an insurer's duty to defend:

The duty to defend arises at the time an action is first brought, and is based on the potential for liability. An insurer has a duty to defend when a complaint against the insured, construed liberally, alleges facts which could, if proven, impose liability upon the insured within the policy's coverage. An insurer is not relieved of its duty to defend unless the claim alleged in the complaint is clearly not covered by the policy. Moreover, if a complaint is ambiguous, a court will construe it liberally in favor of triggering the insurer's duty to defend. In contrast, the duty to indemnify hinges on the insured's actual liability to the claimant and actual coverage under the policy....
There are two exceptions to the rule that the duty to defend must be determined only from the complaint, and both the exceptions favor the insured. First, if it is not clear from the face of the complaint that the policy provides coverage, but coverage could exist, the insurer must investigate and give the insured the benefit of the doubt that the insurer has a duty to defend. Notice pleading rules, which require only a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief, impose a significant burden on the insurer to determine if there are any facts in the pleadings that could conceivably give rise to a duty to defend. Second, if the allegations in the complaint conflict with facts known to or readily ascertainable by the insurer, or if the allegations are ambiguous or inadequate, facts outside the complaint may be considered. The insurer may not rely on facts extrinsic to the complaint to deny the duty to defend — it may do so only to trigger the duty.
... Although the insurer must bear the expense of defending the insured, by doing so under a reservation of rights and seeking a declaratory judgment, the insurer avoids breaching its duty to defend and incurring the potentially greater expense of defending itself from a claim of breach.[[9]]

Colorado I

¶ 12 Crocs sued AU and 10 other named defendants in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado in 2006 ("Colorado I"). The complaint alleged claims for infringement of two patents, trade dress infringement, violation of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, and common law unfair *518 competition. AU tendered defense of this suit to Hartford, which Hartford denied.

¶ 13 Under the principles of Woo and the authority it cites, Hartford had a duty to defend if Crocs's complaint against AU, construed liberally, alleged facts that could, if proven, impose liability upon AU within the policy's coverage.[10] Hartford is not relieved of its duty to defend unless the claim alleged in the complaint is clearly not covered by the policy.[11]

¶ 14 AU concedes that its underlying CGL insurance policy with Hartford contains an exclusion that applies to Crocs's claims. This appeal is therefore based solely on the duty to defend contained in the umbrella policy.

¶ 15 We note that it appears that Hartford made its decisions not to defend after reviewing the complaints in each of the three proceedings. Thus, neither of the two exceptions to the general rule stated in Woo applies to this case.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
198 P.3d 514, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/australia-unlimited-inc-v-hartford-cas-ins-co-washctapp-2008.