Hartford Ins. Co. v. Ohio Cas. Ins. Co.

189 P.3d 195, 145 Wash. App. 765
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJuly 14, 2008
Docket57943-6-I, 58345-0-I
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 189 P.3d 195 (Hartford Ins. Co. v. Ohio 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
Hartford Ins. Co. v. Ohio Cas. Ins. Co., 189 P.3d 195, 145 Wash. App. 765 (Wash. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

189 P.3d 195 (2008)

The HARTFORD INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant,
v.
The OHIO CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY; Mutual of Enumclaw Insurance Company; American States Insurance Company; Safeco Insurance Company and does 1 though 20, inclusive, Defendants,
American States Insurance Company; Ohio Casualty Insurance Company, Respondents.

Nos. 57943-6-I, 58345-0-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

July 14, 2008.

*197 Earl Maier Sutherland, Reed McClure, Seattle, WA, Terry Jay Price, WA State House Democratic Caucus, Olympia, WA, for Appellant.

William Frank Knowles, Cozen O'Connor, Irene Margret Hecht, Jason Paul Chukas, Keller Rohrback LLP, Seattle, WA, for Respondents.

BECKER, J.

¶ 1 This appeal is a sequel to our earlier decision in Maple Court Seattle Condominium Association v. Roosevelt, LLC, 139 Wash. *198 App. 257, 265, 160 P.3d 1068 (2007). Roosevelt, a limited liability company that developed a condominium, settled a construction defect lawsuit brought by the condominium association. Roosevelt then brought third-party claims against the subcontractors, but these claims were dismissed. We affirmed the dismissal in Maple Court, holding that Roosevelt lacked standing to sue the subcontractors after its certificate of formation was cancelled.

¶ 2 The present appeal is by Hartford Insurance Company, the insurer who paid the settlement on behalf of Roosevelt. Hartford seeks to maintain a subrogation action to compel contribution from the subcontractors' insurers whose policies designated Roosevelt as an additional insured. The other insurers argue that Hartford's duty to indemnify Roosevelt ended when Roosevelt's existence was cancelled, and as a result Hartford's contribution to the settlement was voluntary so that no subrogation may be permitted. We conclude, however, that Hartford did not act as a volunteer under these circumstances and may seek contribution from other insurers who had agreed to cover Roosevelt's liabilities.

FACTS

¶ 3 Roosevelt LLC, a limited liability company, was the developer of the Maple Court condominium project on Roosevelt Way in Seattle. Roosevelt did not take the administrative steps required by statute to continue its existence as a limited liability corporation. The secretary of state administratively dissolved Roosevelt LLC on September 23, 2002. A two-year statutory grace period began to run during which Roosevelt could either seek reinstatement or wind up its affairs.

¶ 4 The Maple Court Seattle Condominium Association sued Roosevelt in December 2003 for damages resulting from allegedly faulty construction. In July 2004, Roosevelt filed a third party complaint against construction manager Steinvall Construction, Inc. and several subcontractors who worked on the condominium project.

¶ 5 On September 23, 2004, the secretary of state cancelled Roosevelt's certificate of formation because the two-year statutory grace period for seeking reinstatement had expired.

¶ 6 In December 2004, Steinvall answered and filed cross-claims against the subcontractors, claiming to be a third party beneficiary of the subcontracts they had entered into with Roosevelt. Steinvall's claims were entirely derivative of Roosevelt's, as Roosevelt was the only entity that had sued Steinvall.

¶ 7 Roosevelt and Steinvall were defended in the underlying Maple Court lawsuit by their respective insurers — Roosevelt by appellant The Hartford Insurance Company, and Steinvall by Western Heritage Insurance Company.

¶ 8 In March 2005 — six months after the cancellation occurred — Roosevelt and Steinvall settled the condominium association's claims for $2 million. Under the settlement agreement, Hartford paid the association $400,000.00 on behalf of Roosevelt and Western Heritage paid the remaining $1,600,000.00 on behalf of Steinvall. Roosevelt, Steinvall, and Western Heritage assigned to Hartford all claims and rights they held against other parties and insurers in the underlying lawsuit.

¶ 9 The subcontractors discovered that Roosevelt had been cancelled. In July and August 2005 they obtained dismissal of Roosevelt's third party and indemnity claims against the subcontractors on the basis that Roosevelt ceased to exist as a legally cognizable entity on September 23, 2004, and thereafter did not have standing to prosecute a claim. The subcontractors obtained dismissal of Steinvall's cross-claims against the subcontractors on the basis that Steinvall's claims were entirely derivative of Roosevelt's now-invalid claims. This court affirmed the dismissals, concluding that "any settlement that Steinvall made was on behalf of Roosevelt and was gratuitous since Roosevelt was not a legal entity and could not pursue a claim against Steinvall.... Since Steinvall had no duty to pay Roosevelt, none of the subcontractors had a duty to pay Steinvall." Maple Court, 139 Wash.App. at 265, 160 P.3d 1068 (affirming dismissal of claims against *199 subcontractors by both Roosevelt and Steinvall).

¶ 10 The present appeal arises from an action for declaratory relief filed in August 2005 by Hartford against Ohio Casualty Insurance Company and American States Insurance Company to recover amounts paid in the Maple Court settlement. Ohio Casualty Insurance Company insured subcontractor MAP Construction. American States Insurance Company insured subcontractors Grateful Siding, Quality Surfacing, and Tile Technology.[1] Hartford alleged that the defendant insurers had improperly declined to defend and indemnify Roosevelt as required by certain subcontractor policies in which Roosevelt had the status of an additional insured. Hartford sought equitable contribution for the amounts paid in settlement, and also asserted its rights as an assignee of Roosevelt, Steinvall, and Western Heritage.

¶ 11 The trial court dismissed Hartford's suit against Ohio Casualty and American States on summary judgment. Hartford has appealed from each order of dismissal. The appeals have been consolidated.

¶ 12 We review de novo an order on summary judgment, and engage in the same inquiry as the trial court. Summary judgment is properly granted when the pleadings, affidavits, depositions, and admissions on file demonstrate that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law. The moving party bears the initial burden of establishing its right to judgment as a matter of law. Once the moving party satisfies its initial burden, the burden then shifts to the nonmoving party to show that a triable issue exists. All reasonable inferences from the evidence must be construed in favor of the nonmoving party. Jacob's Meadow Owners Association v. Plateau 44 II, LLC, 139 Wash.App. 743, 752 n. 1, 162 P.3d 1153 (2007).

¶ 13 This court's opinion in Maple Court was issued after the parties to this appeal filed their briefs. In a supplemental brief, Hartford concedes that it no longer has a viable theory for recovery as the assignee of Western Heritage. Because Steinvall had no duty to pay the association anything, Western Heritage acted as a volunteer when it contributed to the settlement on behalf of Steinvall.

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Bluebook (online)
189 P.3d 195, 145 Wash. App. 765, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hartford-ins-co-v-ohio-cas-ins-co-washctapp-2008.