Lifecare Hosp. of New Orl. v. Lifemark Hos.

984 So. 2d 894, 2008 WL 1735483
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 15, 2008
Docket07-CA-914
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 984 So. 2d 894 (Lifecare Hosp. of New Orl. v. Lifemark Hos.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lifecare Hosp. of New Orl. v. Lifemark Hos., 984 So. 2d 894, 2008 WL 1735483 (La. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

984 So.2d 894 (2008)

LIFECARE HOSPITALS OF NEW ORLEANS, L.L.C. d/b/a Lifecare Hospitals of New Orleans at Kenner Regional
v.
LIFEMARK HOSPITALS OF LOUISIANA, INC. d/b/a Kenner Regional Medical Center.

No. 07-CA-914.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

April 15, 2008.

*895 Lambert J. Hassinger, Jr., Richard G. Duplantier, Jr., Attorneys at Law, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Steven B. Fisher (Pro Hac Vice), John R. Schelieter (Pro Hac Vice), Attorneys at Law, Chicago, Illinois, for Plaintiff/Appellant.

George Denegre, Jr., Shannon S. Holtzman, Jason R. Johanson, Attorneys at Law, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Kurt S. Blankenship, Robert I. Baudouin, Attorneys at Law, Metairie, Louisiana, for Defendant/Appellee.

Panel composed of Judges THOMAS F. DALEY, MARION F. EDWARDS, and WALTER J. ROTHSCHILD.

WALTER J. ROTHSCHILD, Judge.

Federal Insurance Company ("Federal") appeals a summary judgment rendered in favor of defendant, Lifemark Hospitals of Louisiana, Inc. d/b/a Kenner Regional Medical Center ("Lifemark"), dismissing Federal's Petition for Intervention. For the reasons which follow, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Pursuant to a lease agreement dated March 24, 2004, plaintiff, Lifecare Hospitals of New Orleans, L.L.C. d/b/a Lifecare Hospitals of New Orleans at Kenner Regional ("Lifecare"), leased space from Lifemark on the fifth floor of Kenner Regional Medical Center ("Kenner facility"). At this location, Lifecare operated a long-term acute care medical facility.

On August 29, 2005, as a result of Hurricane Katrina, the Kenner facility sustained physical damage, including damage to the fifth floor that had been leased and occupied by Lifecare. Following Hurricane Katrina, operations at the Kenner facility were interrupted and Lifecare did not occupy the fifth floor property or run its acute care facility. By letter dated November 23, 2005, Lifemark terminated its *896 lease with Lifecare pursuant to paragraph 23(a) of the lease agreement, which provides that either party may terminate the lease upon written notice to the other in the event that damage caused by partial destruction of the premises cannot be repaired within six months from the happening of the damage.

On August 29, 2005, Lifecare had in full force and effect a policy of property insurance issued by Federal, which afforded coverage to Lifecare for:

. . . direct physical loss or damage to building or personal property caused by or resulting from a peril not otherwise excluded, not to exceed the applicable Limit of Insurance for Building or Personal Property shown in the Declarations.

Pursuant to the policy, Federal agreed to pay Lifecare for actual:

. . . . business income loss you incur due to the actual impairment of your operations; and extra expense you incur due to the actual or potential impairment of your operations, during the period of restoration, not to exceed the applicable Limit of Insurance for Business Income with Extra Expense shown in the Declarations.
This actual or potential impairment of operations must be caused by or result from direct physical loss or damage by a covered peril to property at, or within 1,000 feet of, the premises.

Lifecare submitted and Federal accepted a Sworn Statement in Proof of Loss in the amount of $12,332,578, for its claim for damages or losses to multiple properties owned or leased by Lifecare as a result of Hurricane Katrina. The amount of this claim attributable to the Kenner facility was $5,111,418.00. In satisfaction of Lifecare's claim for business income and extra expense losses associated with the Kenner facility from August 29, 2006 through July 31, 2006, Federal paid Lifecare $4,983,418.00. Lifecare submitted and Federal accepted a sworn Subrogation Receipt in favor of Federal for $12,332,578.

On January 26, 2006, Lifecare filed a "Petition for Preliminary and Permanent Injunctions, Specific Performance and Damages," against Lifemark asserting that Lifemark wrongfully terminated the lease agreement in bad faith. On August 25, 2006, Federal filed a "Petition for Intervention," alleging that a substantial portion of the losses sustained by Lifecare were incurred as a result of Lifemark's bad faith breach of the lease agreement and seeking reimbursement for sums that it paid to Lifecare under its policy of insurance. Federal claimed that, pursuant to the insurance policy, it is subrogated to the rights of Lifecare and has the right to seek reimbursement from Lifemark for sums paid to Lifecare under the policy.

On January 29, 2007, Lifemark filed a Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, asserting that Federal's Petition for Intervention should be dismissed, because Federal's subrogation claims are precluded by both contract and Louisiana law. Lifemark argued that based on the numerous stipulations of facts agreed to by Lifemark and Federal in a document entitled, "Stipulations," there were no issues of material fact and that the issue of the validity of Federal's subrogation claims could be determined as a matter of law.

In support of its Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, Lifemark contended that Federal did not have any right to subrogation, because paragraph 21(c) of the lease agreement between Lifemark and Lifecare contains a waiver of subrogation as follows:

Should either Landlord or LifeCare sustain a loss by reason of fire or other casualty which is a type or risk covered *897 by such party's fire and extended coverage insurance policy, and if such fire or casualty is caused in whole or in part by acts or omissions of the other party, its agents, servants or employees, then the party sustaining such loss (a "Loss Party") agrees that to the extent the Loss Party is compensated for such loss by its insurance proceeds, the Loss Party shall have no right of recovery against the other party, or the agents, servants or employees of the other party. No third party shall have any right of recovery by way of subrogation or assignment or otherwise.

(Emphasis added.)

Lifemark further noted that the insurance policy issued by Federal to Lifecare contains a subrogation provision, but the policy also specifically permits the insured to waive subrogation in advance of any loss. These provisions are set forth in the insurance policy issued by Federal to Lifecare as follows:

Transfer of Rights of Recovery to Us

If any person to or for whom we make payment under this insurance has rights to recover damages from another, those rights are transferred to us to the extent of our payment. That person or organization must do everything necessary to secure our rights and must do nothing after loss to impair our rights.
You may waive your rights against another party in writing:
A. prior to direct physical loss or damage to insured property.

Lifemark argued that Lifecare specifically waived subrogation in the lease agreement and that this waiver was executed prior to any loss, as required by the insurance policy.

Lifemark further argued that because legal subrogation did not apply in this instance, conventional subrogation would have to be established. Lifemark asserted that Federal cannot show that it is subrogated to Lifecare's rights by conventional subrogation, because the Sworn Statement in Proof of Loss and the Subrogation Receipt both indicate that Federal paid sums to Lifecare for damages or losses caused by Hurricane Katrina.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
984 So. 2d 894, 2008 WL 1735483, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lifecare-hosp-of-new-orl-v-lifemark-hos-lactapp-2008.