General Insurance v. Rhoades

196 F.R.D. 620, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14382, 2000 WL 1460036
District Court, D. New Mexico·Decided September 7, 2000·No. CIV. No. 99-1009 BB/LFG·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

BLACK, District Judge.

THIS MATTER comes before the Court for consideration of Defendant’s (“Rhoades”) motion to amend his answer and modify an admission he made in the initial pretrial report (Doc. 20); a motion to intervene filed by John C. Craft (Doe. 26); and Plaintiffs motion for summary judgment (Doc. 31). The Court has reviewed the submissions of the parties and the relevant law. For the reasons set forth below, the Court will grant the motion to amend, deny the motion to intervene without prejudice to renewal of the motion, and deny the motion for summary judgment.

FACTS

Rhoades is an attorney licensed and practicing in New Mexico. Plaintiff is an insurance company and provided professional liability coverage to Rhoades from September 1995 to September 1999. The coverage was provided in successive policies issued for an annual term. These policies were claims-[623] made policies, rather than occurrence policies; this meant they provided coverage for claims made against Rhoades during the policy terms, even if the claimed acts of professional malpractice did not occur during the policy term. In the early 1990’s, Rhoades represented Meadowlark Insurance Company (“Meadowlark”). During that time several of Meadowlark’s directors looted the company, leaving Meadowlark insolvent. Craft, the would-be intervenor in this case, was appointed as liquidator of Meadowlark. Craft’s position required him to locate any assets that might belong to Meadowlark, collect those assets, and distribute them to policyholders and others injured as a result of Meadowlark’s insolvency.

In 1996, Craft contacted Rhoades, through a phone call to Rhoades’ attorney, and asked for assistance from Rhoades in locating Meadowlark’s assets. As discussed in this opinion, Craft may or may not have also stated he would be willing to give Rhoades a release in exchange for the limits of Rhoades’ malpractice policy. In the materials provided to this Court to date concerning that conversation, there are no facts or allegations indicating the nature of any possible negligence or wrongdoing by Rhoades, or explaining why Craft felt he was entitled to the limits of the policy. Approximately three years later, in the spring of 1999, Craft provided Rhoades a copy of a draft complaint for professional malpractice and breach of contract, which Craft intended to file against Rhoades. Rhoades sent a copy of the draft complaint to Plaintiff, to apprise Plaintiff of the potential claim. Subsequently, Craft did file the complaint, in a Missouri state court.

Plaintiff undertook defense of the Missouri malpractice action under a reservation of rights. Plaintiff also instituted the instant action, requesting a determination that it has no duty to defend against Craft’s claims or to cover Rhoades’ potential liability for the claims. Plaintiff maintains coverage under the 1995-96 policy, which was in effect at the time of Craft’s initial conversation with Rhoades’ attorney, is excluded because Rhoades did not notify Plaintiff of that conversation during the 1995-96 policy period. Plaintiff also maintains coverage under the 1998-99 policy, which was in effect at the time Craft first provided Rhoades a copy of the draft complaint for malpractice, is excluded because Rhoades knew of Craft’s potential claim in 1996, prior to the 1998-99 policy period. In other words, Plaintiff maintains Rhoades’ procedural default has cost him coverage for alleged malpractice that clearly occurred, if at all, during a time Plaintiff was collecting premiums from Rhoades for malpractice coverage, gave rise to a claim by Craft during such a time, and was reported to Plaintiff while Plaintiff continued to collect premiums for such coverage. It thus becomes Plaintiffs burden to convince the Court that the terms of Rhoades’ policies should contradict the notion that Plaintiffs policies cover Rhoades’ liability, since all significant events related to Craft’s claims against Rhoades occurred while Rhoades remained insured by Plaintiff.

After Plaintiff initiated this lawsuit and moved for summary judgment, Craft moved to intervene in the lawsuit, claiming to be a party whose interests may be severely affected if Rhoades is left without insurance coverage with respect to the claims brought by Craft. Rhoades, meanwhile, had filed a motion to amend a portion of his answer and a portion of the initial pretrial report. As discussed below, in both the answer and the pretrial report Rhoades had made an admission that forms the primary basis for Plaintiffs motion for summary judgment. Rhoades now wishes to amend that admission. The Court will first address these two motions, before deciding the summary-judgment issue.

CRAFT’S MOTION TO INTERVENE

To intervene in this case as a matter of right, Craft must show his motion to intervene was timely; he has a direct, substantial, and legally protectable interest in the litigation; his interest may as a practical matter be impaired during or as a result of the litigation; and his interest is not adequately represented by the parties. See Coalition of Arizona/New Mexico Counties for Stable Economic Growth v. Dep’t of the Interior, 100 F.3d 837, 841 (10th Cir.1996).

Plaintiffs primary contention in opposition to Craft’s motion is that Craft does [624] not have a direct interest in the case, because Craft has not yet obtained a judgment against Rhoades. A number of federal district courts, and at least one circuit court, have addressed the question facing the Court in this case: whether a party who has a potential claim against an insured, but who has not yet obtained a judgment against the insured, should be allowed to intervene in a lawsuit brought to resolve a coverage dispute between the insured and the insurer. Some of these courts have refused to allow intervention, finding that a contingent interest in a lawsuit, which is dependent on the would-be intervenor’s success in a separate lawsuit, is not sufficient to satisfy the “direct, substantial, and legally protectable interest” requirement. See, e.g., Redland, Ins. Co. v. Chillingsworth Venture, Ltd., 171 F.R.D. 206, 208 (N.D.Ohio 1997) (“Movants have nothing more than a hypothetical interest in the present action as they are yet to obtain a judgment in the tort action.”); Independent Petrochemical Corp. v. Aetna Casualty & Sur. Co., 105 F.R.D. 106, 110 (D.D.C.1985) (“Until the tort claimants have obtained a judgment against these plaintiffs, their interest in the subject matter of this litigation is purely hypothetical.”); Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. v. Pacific Indem. Co., 76 F.R.D. 656, 659-60 (W.D.Pa.1977).

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General Insurance v. Rhoades, 196 F.R.D. 620, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14382, 2000 WL 1460036 (D.N.M. 2000).

196 F.R.D. 620 (General Insurance v. Rhoades) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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