Kingsley v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance

153 F. App'x 555

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• Decided: September 29, 2005
• Docket: 05-12170; D.C. Docket 03-00923-CV-WSD-1
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Susan Kingsley (“Kingsley”) appeals the district court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (“State Farm”) and denying her motion for partial summary judgment as inappropriate. 1

Kingsley filed the instant suit seeking damages for State Farm’s alleged tortious refusal to settle Kingsley’s claim against Donna Beam, State Farm’s insured, after a car accident in which Kingsley’s husband was fatally injured. In granting summary judgment in State Farm’s favor on Kingsley’s claim, the district court concluded that State Farm: (1) did not know, nor should it reasonably have known, that settlement within the Policy limits was possible; and (2) did not fail to take sufficient steps to obtain a settlement within a reasonable time.

Upon a de novo review of the record and consideration of the parties’ briefs, we agree with the district court that there is no reasonable basis to conclude that State Farm tortiously refused to settle Kingsley’s claim against its insured. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order granting summary judgment in State Farm’s favor and denying Kingsley’s motion for partial summary judgment.

AFFIRMED.

1 . Kingsley devotes a substantial portion of her brief to an argument concerning the district court’s April 14, 2003 order disallowing her Notice of Voluntary Dismissal. However, be cause Kingsley did not cite this order in her Notice of Appeal, we do not have jurisdiction to reach the merits of this issue. Fed. R.App. P. 3(c)(1)(B); see also Whetstone Candy Co. v. Kraft Foods, Inc., 351 F.3d 1067, 1079-80 (11th Cir.2003). In fact, at no point prior to filing her initial brief did Kingsley challenge this order of the district court by way of a motion for reconsideration, a motion to dismiss the complaint, or by seeking interlocutory review of the order. Instead, Kingsley filed an answer to State Farm's counterclaim, participated in discovery, and ultimately filed an unsuccessful motion for partial summaty judgment.