Motorists Mutual Insurance Company v. Pinkerton

830 A.2d 958, 574 Pa. 333, 2003 Pa. LEXIS 1462
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 20, 2003
Docket20 WAP 2002, 28 MAP 2002, 42 MAP 2002, 48 MAP 2002
StatusPublished
Cited by71 cases

This text of 830 A.2d 958 (Motorists Mutual Insurance Company v. Pinkerton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Motorists Mutual Insurance Company v. Pinkerton, 830 A.2d 958, 574 Pa. 333, 2003 Pa. LEXIS 1462 (Pa. 2003).

Opinions

OPINION

Justice NIGRO.

The question presented in each of these four consolidated actions is whether the Superior Court erred in quashing as untimely an appeal from a declaratory judgment order entered after trial based on the fact that the appellant filed post-trial motions instead of immediately appealing the order. For the following reasons, we hold that the Superior Court did, in fact, err.

In the first of these four consolidated cases, State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. v. Craley, three members of the Craley family were involved in an automobile accident with an uninsured motorist. 784 A.2d 781 (Pa.Super.2001). Thereafter, they sought uninsured motorist coverage from Appellant State Farm Fire and Casualty Company (“State Farm”), pursuant to a policy that State Farm had issued to another family member. State Farm, however, believed that it had no obligation to pay such benefits and thus, filed a declaratory judgment action in the Court of Common Pleas of Berks County. As the facts of the case were undisputed, the parties submitted the case to the trial court for a non-jury trial on stipulated facts pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Proce[336]*336dure 1038.1.1 The trial court issued its decision and verdict on December 22, 1998, declaring State Farm responsible under the policy at issue and awarding damages to the Craleys. State Farm and the Craleys each filed a post-trial motion. In an April 26, 2000 order, the trial court denied State Farm’s motion, but granted the Craleys’ motion and amended the verdict accordingly. Twenty-nine days later, on May 25, 2000, State Farm filed a notice of appeal. However, in an en banc opinion and order, the Superior Court quashed the appeal as untimely. 784 A.2d 781. The Superior Court explained in its opinion that under the Declaratory Judgment Act, the trial court’s December 22, 1998 order declaring the rights of the parties had “the force and effect of a final judgment,” 42 Pa.C.S. § 7532, and was therefore subject to immediate appeal.2 Id. at 785-787 (citing Nationwide Mutual Ins. Co. v. Wickett, 563 Pa. 595, 763 A.2d 813 (2000)). As State Farm had not appealed that order within thirty days of its entry, see Pa.R.A.P. 903 (appeal must be taken within 30 days of final order), but rather, had filed its post-trial motion and then appealed, the court concluded that the appeal was untimely and the court therefore had no jurisdiction to hear it.

Three judges on the en banc panel filed separate opinions. President Judge Del Sole authored a dissent, specifically disagreeing with the majority’s conclusion that the appeal was untimely. While Judge Del Sole acknowledged that this Court’s decision in Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. v. Wickett could be read to “eliminate the normal and time-[337]*337honored procedural rules involving post-trial practice,” 784 A.2d at 789-90, he distinguished that case from the instant one, noting that Wickett involved a ruling on preliminary objections, whereas the instant case involved a trial. Based on this distinction, Judge Del Sole concluded that the parties acted appropriately in filing post-trial motions rather than immediately appealing the trial court’s December 22, 1998 order.

President Judge Emeritus McEwen filed a concurring and dissenting opinion, in which he stated that he agreed with the majority that the Declaratory Judgment Act and Wickett make clear that orders declaring rights and duties in declaratory judgment actions are immediately appealable. However, he noted that the Superior Court had not consistently applied Section 7532 of the Declaratory Judgment Act, resulting in considerable confusion among Superior Court panels. Compare, e.g., Baughman v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. 441 Pa.Super. 83, 656 A.2d 931 (1995) (quashing appeal filed directly from declaratory judgment order entered following bench trial), with State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Martin, 442 Pa.Super. 442, 660 A.2d 66 (1995) (hearing appeal that had been filed directly from declaratory judgment order entered following submission of case on stipulated facts). Judge McEwen therefore stated that while he agreed with the majority that State Farm’s appeal was untimely, he believed that the court should exercise its authority to allow State Farm’s appeal nunc pro tunc.

Judge Musmanno joined Judge McEwen’s opinion, and also filed his own concurring and dissenting opinion, which Judge Todd joined. According to Judge Musmanno, the parties in this case were faced with a “procedural conundrum.” Id. at 794. On the one hand, the Declaratory Judgment Act states that any order declaring the rights of the parties has the full effect of a final judgment. On the other hand, Rules 1038.1 and 227.1 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure, when read together, require that parties file post-trial motions to preserve claims for appellate review in cases submitted on stipulated facts. See Pa.R.Civ.P. 1038.1 (practice and proce[338]*338dure on stipulated facts shall be in accordance with rules governing trials without a jury); Pa.R.Civ.P. 227.1 (requiring filing of post-trial motions to preserve claims for appellate review). Moreover, Judge Musmanno, like Judge McEwen, noted that prior Superior Court case law on this issue was far from a model of clarity. He therefore concluded that the majority’s holding that immediate appeal was required under the Declaratory Judgment Act should be applied prospectively only.

On State Farm’s petition, we granted allowance of appeal in Craley to consider whether the Superior Court was correct in holding that State Farm was required to file an immediate appeal from the trial court’s December 22, 1998 order following a non-jury trial on stipulated facts.3 In the meantime, the Superior Court quashed appeals in Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance Co. v. Hasson, 790 A.2d 348; Motorist Mutual Ins. Co. v. Pinkerton, 792 A.2d 625, and Homestead Insurance Co. v. Penjerdel Refrigeration Co., essentially for the same reasons it had articulated in Craley.

In Hasson, Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance Company (“Prudential”) filed a declaratory action, seeking to ascertain its responsibility for paying Appellant Shirley Has-son uninsured motorists benefits. Following a non-jury trial, the trial court, on November 6, 2000, docketed an order and opinion, granting declaratory judgment in favor of Prudential based on its conclusion that Hasson was not entitled to uninsured motorist coverage under the Prudential policy at issue. 50 Pa. D. & C. 4th 435 (Com.Pl.2000). On November 13, 2000, Hasson and her husband filed a motion for post-trial relief, which the trial court denied on January 5, 2001. On January 11, 2001, the Hassons filed a notice of appeal with the Superior Court. However, the Superior Court quashed the appeal as untimely. In a memorandum decision, the court explained, as the en banc court had in

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
830 A.2d 958, 574 Pa. 333, 2003 Pa. LEXIS 1462, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/motorists-mutual-insurance-company-v-pinkerton-pa-2003.