Berres v. Artifex, Ltd.

21 F. Supp. 2d 909, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16858, 1998 WL 736380
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedOctober 8, 1998
Docket96-C-422
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 21 F. Supp. 2d 909 (Berres v. Artifex, Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Berres v. Artifex, Ltd., 21 F. Supp. 2d 909, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16858, 1998 WL 736380 (E.D. Wis. 1998).

Opinion

ORDER

STADTMUELLER, Chief Judge.

On April 12, 1996, plaintiff Scott P. Berres filed a complaint against defendant Artifex, Limited, the manufacturer of an allegedly defective bone screw device implanted in Berres’s back, and against Admiral Insur- *911 anee Company, Artifex’s insurer. On April 16, 1998, Admiral moved under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56 for summary judgment regarding claims-made coverage, arguing that Berres’s claim is not covered under the terms of Artifex’s claims-made insurance policy, and the defendants moved for partial summary judgment dismissing counts three, four, five, six, and seven of plaintiffs complaint. The court will deny Admiral’s summary judgment motion regarding claims-made coverage and will grant in part and deny -in part defendants’ motion for partial summary judgment dismissing counts three, four, five, six, and seven of plaintiffs complaint.

I. Motion for Summary Judgment for Claims-Made Coverage

A. Undisputed Facts

Just as the plaintiffs in Staudt v. Artifex, Ltd., 16 F.Supp.2d 1023 (E.D.Wis.1998) (Gordon, J.), failed to file a response to Admiral’s proposed findings of fact as required by Local Rule 6.05(b)(1), Berres failed to respond to Admiral’s proposed findings of fact in this case. Likewise, as in Staudt, Admiral failed to respond to the plaintiffs proposed findings of fact according to Local Rules 6.05(c) and 6.05(a)(2). 1 Accordingly, the court must conclude that there is no genuine issue as to any of Admiral's or Berres’s proposed factual findings. See Stewart v. McGinnis, 5 F.3d 1031, 1034 (7th Cir.1993), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1121, 114 S.Ct. 1075, 127 L.Ed.2d 393 (1994); Local Rule 6.05(d).

Admiral issued an insurance policy to Arti-fex providing coverage for completed operations and products liability for a policy term from February 21, 1994 to February 21, 1995 (Artifex subsequently allowed the policy to lapse upon its expiration). The policy was a claims-made policy which only provided coverage for claims first made during the “policy period,” which extended from the “retroactive date” of February 21,1991, to 12:01 a.m. on February 21, 1995. The policy also provided coverage for claims made after the expiration of the policy under certain circumstances:

Further, if within the policy period, the insured complies with Amended Condition Ua) as respects any alleged bodily injury or property damage arising out of an occurrence subsequent to the Retroactive Date and prior to the expiration or cancellation date, coverage hereunder will apply to any claim made or suit brought as a result of that occurrence, even if such claims or suit arises after the expiration of the Claims Extension Period.
IV. AMENDED CONDITION 4(a)
With reference to this Coverage Part, Condition 4(a) is amended to read as follows:

Condition 4(a) — Insured’s Duties in the Event of Occurrence, Claim or Suit

(a) Upon the Insured becoming aware of any alleged bodily injury or property damage to which this insurance applies, written notice containing particulars sufficient to identify the Insured and also reasonably obtainable information with respect to the time, place and circumstances thereof, and the names and addresses of the injured and of available witnesses, shall be given by or for the Insured to the Company or any of its authorized representatives as soon as practicable.

Anderson Aff. at Ex. H (emphasis added). 2

It is undisputed that prior to April 15, 1996, Artifex and Admiral had no notice of Berres’s claims in particular or of the specific bodily injury or property damage suffered by Berres. However, it is also undisputed that Artifex and Admiral had notice of a class action lawsuit involving bone screw liability (the Woodzicka class action) during the policy period 3 and that Scott Berres was a mem *912 ber of that class, albeit an unnamed one. Judge Louis Bechtle of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied class certification of the Woodzicka class in July 1995. 4

B. Analysis

Admiral argues that it is entitled to summary judgment because Berres did not make his claims within the policy period and Admiral did not receive notice of Berres’s claims during the policy period pursuant to the above-quoted policy language (the “discovery clause”).

1. Interpretation of “Discovery Clause”

As an initial matter, this court believes that both the parties and Judge Gordon in Staudt (interpreting the same policy in issue here) may not have considered another reasonable interpretation of the policy language in question. The first paragraph of the policy quoted above refers to “any alleged bodily injury or property damage arising out of an occurrence subsequent to the Retroactive Date and prior to the expiration or cancellation date.” Admiral apparently does not contest (nor could it, by the facts presented to the court) the fact that the “occurrence,” whether one defines it as the time of implantation of the device, the time it allegedly malfunctioned, or the time Berres discovered its alleged defect, took place during the policy period. Therefore, under the plain language of the first paragraph of the policy quoted above, the question becomes: Did the insured, Artifex, comply with Amended Condition 4(a) within the policy period?

This raises the further question of what it means to “comply” with Amended Condition 4(a). The court believes that it can reasonably be said that to “comply” with a condition means to “not violate” the condition. It appears clear to this court that Artifex did not violate Amended Condition 4(a) within the policy period; for example, it did not become aware of a covered injury and then fail to turn the information over to its insurer as soon as practicable. Thus, even if nothing happened during the policy period, that is, if Artifex did not become aware of any injury and did not report' any injury within the policy period, Artifex still “complied” with Amended Condition 4(a).

The specific language of this particular policy distinguishes this case from all of the cases that Judge Gordon relied upon. For example, in KPFF, the insurance policy at issue clearly required an insured to give written notice during the policy period: “If during the Policy Period, the Insured shall first become aware of any circumstances which may subsequently give rise to a Claim ... and if the Insured shall during the Policy Period give written notice.'...” 56 Cal.App.4th at 968, 66 Cal.Rptr.2d 36 (emphasis added).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
21 F. Supp. 2d 909, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16858, 1998 WL 736380, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/berres-v-artifex-ltd-wied-1998.