Penny v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

District Court, W.D. Washington·Decided November 6, 2020·No. 3:18-cv-05195·Unknown

Opinion

Hon. Ronald B. Leighton

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA

ANAJEAN PENNY, | Case No. 3:18-cv-05195-RBL Plaintiff, PRETRIAL ORDER VS. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant. JURISDICTION Plaintiff filed this claim originally in state court, Superior Court of Washington for the County of Clark. Defendant removed the case to the Federal Court based upon diversity of citizenship under 28 USC Sec. 1332 and 1446.

CLAIMS AND DEFENSES Plaintiff intends to pursue the claims she alleged in her Complaint, namely: e That on August 27, 2014, Plaintiff was involved in an automobile collision in Vancouver, Washington that was caused by the negligence of Nelda Lindell; that as a direct and

DECLARATION OF SERVICE

proximate result of the collision and Ms, Lindell’s negligence that Plaintiff sustained extensive personal injuries and incurred substantial medical expense, and other economic and non- economic damages in an amount to be determined at trial; ° That Ms. Lindell was underinsured, and that Plaintiff’s underinsured motorist coverage with Defendant State Farm required State Farm to pay the difference between Ms. Lindell’s policy limits and what Plaintiff's claim was worth; ° That Plaintiff sustained soft tissue spinal injuries and a concussion, as well as numerous post-concussion residuals that continue to this day, and will be seeking past and future general damages related to the same, in an amount to be determined by the trier of fact; ° That Plaintiff's past medical specials to be sought at the time of trial include but are not necessarily limited to the amounts Plaintiff requested Defendant State Farm admit to in its request for admissions regarding the medical bills, and as outlined in the expert report of Wendy Votroubek. State Farm will pursue the following affirmative defenses at trial: 1. Plaintiff failed to mitigate, minimize, or avoid the damages allegedly sustained and recovery, if any, should be reduced accordingly. 2. Plaintiffs alleged injuries have been proximately caused, in whole or in part, by his own negligence and/or comparative fault, and such damages are to be apportioned at trial pursuant to RCW 4.22.055, RCW 4.22.070 and related laws. 3. Plaintiffs claim is barred to the extent the alleged injuries, in whole or in part, resulted from pre-existing and/or unrelated medical conditions. 4. Plaintiff's claim is barred to the extent the alleged injuries, in whole or in part, resulted from an intervening or superseding cause. 5. Plaintiff has failed to prove those issues on which she has the burden of proof. DECLARATION OF SERVICE

6. Plaintiff has been paid for all, or some, of her alleged damages and injuries and is not entitled to a double recovery. To the extent said damages have already been paid by State Farm, any tortfeasor(s), and/or any other insurance company on their behalf, State Farm is entitled to a credit and/or offset. State Farm recognizes that this is not an issue for the Court to decide in this bench trial. Rather, to the extent the UIM coverage under plaintiffs State Farm- issued policy is triggered after any award by this Court, State Farm will ask the Court to determine whether and to what extent State Farm is entitled to any offsets.

ADMITTED FACTS The following facts are admitted by the parties: e That Defendant State Farm is an insurer doing business in the State of Washington; ° That Plaintiff had a valid and applicable policy of insurance with State Farm that had PIP and UIM coverage included, which was in effect when the subject collision occurred; ° That Plaintiff made a claim for UIM benefits under the State Farm policy;

ISSUES OF LAW The following are the issues of law to be determined by the court. To Plaintiff's understanding issues in the case are issues of fact/causation, namely: whether the auto collision of 2014 caused the injuries Plaintiff has alleged (soft tissue spinal injuries and concussion/post- concussion residuals), and if so what economic and non-economic damages were caused by those injuries. Defendant State Farm does not dispute that if Plaintiff's total damages are found at trial to be in excess of the insurance proceeds obtained by Plaintiff already (consisting of the underinsured driver’s liability policy limits together with personal injury protection (PIP) DECLARATION OF SERVICE

benefits paid by Defendant State Farm) that Plaintiff would be entitled to underinsured benefits from State Farm. In the practice of resolving UIM disputes at trial or arbitration, in the experience of counsel for both Plaintiff and Defendant, the factfinder is not told of what the underlying liability policy limits are, nor what the underinsured motorist policy limits are, so that the factfinder can make a determination of the amount of damages Plaintiff sustained, if any, free from any influence that the policy limits on either side might provide. The applicable insurance limits are then applied to come to an accurate and appropriate award/judgment. The parties wish it to be so here. If the Court so approves, the parties will be entering into a stipulation as to the amounts of the applicable insurance limits that will allow the Court to apply those limits in the event of a factual determination that Plaintiff sustained damages due to the auto collision. The parties would then request that the Court not review the stipulation until after the issues of causation and damages are resolved at trial. The parties are of course open to guidance from the Court as to the procedural mechanism the Court prefers to accomplish this. Here are the parties’ Issues of Law: 1. The nature and extent of plaintiff's accident-related injuries and damages. 2. Whether plaintiff failed to mitigate, minimize, or avoid the damages allegedly sustained. If so, to what extent should her recovery, if any, be reduced? 3. Whether on August 27, 2014, plaintiff was struck by an “underinsured motor vehicle,” as that term is defined in the subject insurance policy, such that plaintiff is entitled to contractual Underinsured Motorist benefits.

4. If plaintiff is entitled to Underinsured Motorist benefits under the subject policy, what is the appropriate amount after accounting for applicable apportionments, offsets, and/or policy limits?

EXPERT WITNESSES (a) Each party shall be limited to the expert witnesses they have previously identified and disclosed on the issues of injury causation and damages. (b) The name(s) and addresses of the expert witness(es) to be used by each party at the trial and the issue upon which each will testify is: (1) On behalf of Plaintiff; i. Nicholas Baker, DC, 1328 NW 6" St., Grants Pass, OR 97526 (will testify). This provider has already been perpetuated and their video- taped testimony will be played (1 hour and 26 minutes). ii. Joanna Carter, OD, 814 E. Jackson St., Suite A, Medford, OR 97504 (will testify). This provider has already been perpetuated and their video-taped testimony will be played (1 hour and 17 minutes), iii. Douglas Col, Ph.D., 542 Washington St., Suite 200, Ashland, OR 97520 (will testify). This provider has already been perpetuated and their video-taped testimony will be played (1 hour and 29 minutes). iv. Eric Dukes, OD, 2325 Ashland St., Ashland, OR 97520 (will testify). This provider has already been perpetuated and their video-taped testimony will be played (1 hour and 36 minutes). v. Heather Kahn, MD, 1215 NE 7" St., Grants Pass, OR 97526 (will testify). This provider has already been perpetuated and their video- DECLARATION OF SERVICE

taped testimony will be played (1 hour and 14 minutes). vi.

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Penny v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, (W.D. Wash. 2020).

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Related

§ 4.22.055
Washington § 4.22.055
§ 4.22.070
Washington § 4.22.070