Hartford Acc. & Indem. v. USCP CO.

515 So. 2d 998, 12 Fla. L. Weekly 2182, 1987 Fla. App. LEXIS 10186
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedSeptember 9, 1987
Docket85-1235
StatusPublished

This text of 515 So. 2d 998 (Hartford Acc. & Indem. v. USCP CO.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hartford Acc. & Indem. v. USCP CO., 515 So. 2d 998, 12 Fla. L. Weekly 2182, 1987 Fla. App. LEXIS 10186 (Fla. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

515 So.2d 998 (1987)

HARTFORD ACCIDENT & INDEMNITY COMPANY, Petitioner,
v.
U.S.C.P. CO., Respondent.

No. 85-1235.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

September 9, 1987.
Rehearing and Rehearing Denied December 11, 1987.

*999 G. William Bissett of Preddy, Kutner & Hardy, P.A., Miami, for petitioner.

Wilton L. Strickland of Ferrero, Middlebrooks & Strickland, Fort Lauderdale, for respondent.

EN BANC

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied December 11, 1987.

DELL, Judge.

Petitioner seeks review, by petition for writ of certiorari, of orders, denying petitioner's motion to dismiss Count II of respondent's crossclaim, requiring petitioner to answer certain interrogatories and an order to produce documents and memoranda. We deny certiorari review of the order denying petitioner's motion to dismiss and the order requiring petitioner to answer certain interrogatories. We grant certiorari review and quash the order compelling production of documents and memoranda.

In 1984 U.S. Fire Insurance Company (U.S. Fire) filed a complaint for declaratory judgment against petitioner, Hartford Accident & Indemnity Company (Hartford) and respondent, U.S. Concrete Pipe Company (U.S.C.P.). U.S. Fire insured U.S.C.P.U.S. Fire's complaint sought a declaration that the excess insurance policy it had issued to U.S.C.P. did not provide coverage for a tort claim filed against U.S.C.P., and that to the extent U.S. Fire might be compelled to pay under its excess policy, it would have a cause of action for equitable subrogation against Hartford, the primary liability insurance carrier for U.S.C.P.

*1000 U.S.C.P. responded by filing a two-count counterclaim against U.S. Fire and a two-count crossclaim against Hartford. This petition for writ of certiorari is concerned only with Count II of U.S.C.P.'s crossclaim against Hartford for bad faith and the discovery questions related to this count. U.S.C.P. alleged that Hartford acted in bad faith by refusing to pay U.S.C.P. all sums due under its policy of insurance. Hartford filed a motion to dismiss U.S.C.P.'s crossclaim alleging, among other things, that the crossclaim failed to state a cause of action because an insured has no cause of action to recover punitive damages from its insurer based upon a pleading that alleges nothing more than the insurer "acted in bad faith" by refusing to indemnify or "to pay [the insured] all sums due under its policy of insurance." Hartford also claimed that the trial court should have dismissed the count because Florida law does not recognize a bad faith cause of action for punitive damages in the context of a first party claim by an insured against its insurer absent proof of an independent tort. The trial court rejected these arguments and denied Hartford's motion to dismiss.

U.S.C.P. also served Hartford with interrogatories and a request for production. Hartford filed written objections and requested a protective order claiming that the requested discovery invaded its work product and attorney-client privileges because it sought production of correspondence, memoranda, or other documents involving communications between Hartford and its attorneys. The trial court denied Hartford's objections and ordered it to answer the interrogatories and to produce the documents requested by U.S.C.P. Hartford filed its petition for certiorari and subsequently, the trial court denied Hartford's request to stay the effect of the discovery order pending review by this court.

A petition for writ of certiorari is the appropriate vehicle for testing the correctness of an order governing discovery. Greyhound Lines, Inc. v. Jackson, 445 So.2d 1107, 1108 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984); Gadsden County Times, Inc. v. Horne, 426 So.2d 1234, 1236 (Fla. 1st DCA), review denied, 441 So.2d 631 (Fla. 1983); Malt v. Simmons, 405 So.2d 1018, 1018-19 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981). While certiorari may be used to obtain review of discovery orders, with the exception of the decision in Allstate Insurance Company v. Gibbs, 340 So.2d 1202 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976), cert. dismissed, 354 So.2d 980 (Fla. 1977), this court has until recently held the extraordinary writ of certiorari could not be used to obtain review of orders denying motions to dismiss. In Chalfonte Development Corporation v. Beaudoin, 370 So.2d 58 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979), we said:

This case does not warrant the writing of an opinion because the grounds for issuance of the common law writ of certiorari have been discussed in innumerable cases, many of recent vintage. However, in the hope of stemming an ever increasing tide of unfounded petitions for certiorari we state once again that non-final orders not reviewable by interlocutory appeal pursuant to Fla.R.App.P. 9.130 will not be reviewed by petition for common law certiorari unless the order does not conform to the essential requirements of law and to proceed without immediate review may reasonably cause material injury throughout the subsequent proceedings for which the remedy by appeal is inadequate.
As we said in Siegel v. Abramowitz, [309 So.2d 234 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975)] infra n. 1, it would no doubt be expeditious for this court to resolve the issue presented at this point in time. However, we have persistently refused to alter the rule in the name of expedition. The appellate rule provides for interlocutory review of certain non-final orders because it is essential that they be reviewed during the pendency of the case in the trial court. Generally, all other appellate review is postponed until the matter is concluded in the trial court for rather obvious reasons.

Id. at 59.

Notwithstanding this court's decision in Chalfonte Development Corporation, and *1001 without the discovery question presented in Allstate Insurance Company v. Gibbs, we accepted certiorari jurisdiction and quashed orders denying motions to dismiss in Home Insurance Company of Illinois v. Sentry Insurance A Mutual Company, 461 So.2d 1038 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985) and Canadian Home Insurance Company v. Norris, 471 So.2d 217 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). However, more recently in Doerschuck v. Doerschuck, 481 So.2d 1317 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986), we reverted to the view expressed in Chalfonte and denied a petition for certiorari seeking review of an order denying a motion to dismiss. In his special concurrence in Doerschuck, Judge Glickstein said:

There is no question that a trial judge has no option but to terminate a dissolution action upon the death of one of the parties. Thus, the trial court erred in failing to dismiss the action.
The court may issue a writ of certiorari only when there is a departure from the essential requirements of law and no adequate remedy on plenary appeal. In the present case, there was a departure from the essential requirements of law. However, there is a remedy available on plenary appeal, notwithstanding that the parties may be exposed to costly, lengthy and unnecessary litigation. Unfortunately, these reasons are not adequate to justify certiorari review.

Id. at 1317. [Emphasis in original] [Citations omitted]. These decisions highlight the inconsistent position that we have taken when presented with a petition for certiorari review of an order denying a motion to dismiss.

Obviously a compelling urge to take jurisdiction arises when a trial court has erroneously denied a motion to dismiss and has clearly departed from the essential requirements of law.

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515 So. 2d 998, 12 Fla. L. Weekly 2182, 1987 Fla. App. LEXIS 10186, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hartford-acc-indem-v-uscp-co-fladistctapp-1987.