Miller v. Cincinnati Ins. Co.

290 F. Supp. 3d 1204
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Mexico
DecidedFebruary 2, 2018
DocketCiv. No. 17–00271 SCY/JHR
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 290 F. Supp. 3d 1204 (Miller v. Cincinnati Ins. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Mexico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Miller v. Cincinnati Ins. Co., 290 F. Supp. 3d 1204 (D.N.M. 2018).

Opinion

Steven C. Yarbrough, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

THIS MATTER comes before the Court on the parties' cross-motions for declaratory judgment. Docs. 16, 17. Plaintiff filed her Complaint for Declaratory Judgment, Breach of Contract, and Negligence in New Mexico state district court on January 6, 2017. Doc. 1-1. Defendant removed the action to federal court on February 28, 2017. Doc. 1. Plaintiff's claim for declaratory judgment is premised on allegations that Defendant refused to negotiate settlement of Plaintiff's claim for underinsured motorist ("UM") coverage pursuant to her insurance policy with Defendant. Defendant denied Plaintiff's claim for UM coverage due to Plaintiff's failure to timely make a claim for UM coverage pursuant to the terms of the policy. Having reviewed the briefing, the relevant law, and being otherwise fully advised, the Court will grant Plaintiff's Motion in part and deny Defendant's Motion.

I. PRELIMINARY PROCEDURAL MATTERS

Before getting into the substance of the parties' arguments, the Court will first address whether the state or the federal declaratory judgment act applies. Second, the Court then considers what type of relief is available under the Declaratory Judgment Act.

First, some confusion exists among the parties as to whether the Court's consideration of Plaintiff's claim for declaratory judgment is controlled by the federal Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201 - 2202, or New Mexico's Declaratory Judgment Act, NMSA 1978 § 44-6-1 to -15. Importantly, Defendant's removed this case to federal Court on the basis of the Court's diversity jurisdiction. A federal court exercising jurisdiction over a case based on diversity of citizenship looks to federal procedural law and to state substantive law. See Erie R.R. Co. v. Tompkins , 304 U.S. 64, 72, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188 (1938). The federal Declaratory Judgment Act is procedural.

*1207Farmers Alliance Mut. Ins. Co. v. Jones , 570 F.2d 1384, 1386 (10th Cir. 1978). It "does not create substantive rights for parties...[but] merely provides another procedure whereby parties may obtain judicial relief." Id. Accordingly, while New Mexico law will control the substantive issues of the case, the federal Declaratory Judgment Act will control the procedure governing Plaintiff's claim for declaratory judgment.

Second, although the parties have filed cross-motions for declaratory judgment, the Court clarifies that the Declaratory Judgment Act does not contemplate "motions for declaratory judgment." Under the Act, a court "may declare the rights and other legal relations of any interested party seeking such a declaration" where a party files "an appropriate pleading." 28 U.S.C. § 2201(a). The Federal Rules "govern the procedure for obtaining a declaratory judgment under [the Act]." Fed. R. Civ. P. 57. As such, "the requirements of pleading and practice in actions for declaratory relief are exactly the same as in other civil actions." Thomas v. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Ass'n , 594 F.3d 823, 830 (11th Cir. 2010). When faced with a motion for declaratory judgment, courts therefore often construe the motion as a motion for summary judgment on a declaratory judgment action. See e.g. , Kam-Ko Bio-Pharm Trading , 560 F.3d 935, 943 (9th Cir. 2009) (upholding the district court's decision to construe a motion for declaratory judgment as a motion for summary judgment); Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters v. E. Conference of Teamsters , 160 F.R.D. 452, 456 (S.D.N.Y. 1995) (citation omitted) (stating that "[t]he only way plaintiffs' motion [for declaratory relief] can be construed as being consistent with the Federal Rules is to construe it as a motion for summary judgment on an action for a declaratory judgment."). Consistent with these authorities the Court construes the parties' cross-motions for declaratory judgment as cross-motions for partial summary judgment on Plaintiff's claim for declaratory judgment.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(a), this Court must "grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). The movant bears the initial burden of "show[ing] that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case." Bacchus Indus., Inc. v. Arvin Indus., Inc. , 939 F.2d 887, 891 (10th Cir. 1991) (citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett , 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) ). Once the movant meets this burden, Rule 56(c) requires the non-moving party to designate specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. See Celotex Corp. , 477 U.S.

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Bluebook (online)
290 F. Supp. 3d 1204, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miller-v-cincinnati-ins-co-nmd-2018.