Perez v. First American Title Insurance

810 F. Supp. 2d 986, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 99035, 2011 WL 3861677
CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedSeptember 1, 2011
DocketNo. CV-08-1184-PHX-DGC
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 810 F. Supp. 2d 986 (Perez v. First American Title Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Perez v. First American Title Insurance, 810 F. Supp. 2d 986, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 99035, 2011 WL 3861677 (D. Ariz. 2011).

Opinion

ORDER

DAVID G. CAMPBELL, District Judge.

Defendant First American Title Insurance Company has filed a motion to strike Plaintiffs’ supplemental expert report. Doc. 303. Both parties have filed cross-motions for summary judgment. Docs. 317, 321. The motions are fully briefed, and the Court heard oral argument on August 31, 2011. For reasons that follow, the Court will grant in part Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment, deny Defendant’s motion to strike, and deny Defendant’s motion for summary judgment.

I. Motion to Strike.

Defendant asks the Court to strike the supplemental report of Plaintiffs’ expert Bruce McFarlane. Doc. 303. Defendant [989]*989notes that the report was served on May 13, 2011, almost one year after the deadline for initial expert reports and ten months after the date for rebuttal disclosures. Defendant argues that the untimely disclosure is neither substantially justified nor harmless, and should therefore be stricken under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(c)(1).

Although the Court normally enforces expert deadlines vigorously, the Court concludes that the supplemental report of Mr. McFarlane is substantially justified. On August 27, 2010, 2010 WL 3419715, the Court entered an order permitting Plaintiffs to obtain additional electronic discovery from Defendant. Doc. 237. The Court concluded that Plaintiffs should be permitted greater access to electronic databases that might enable them to identify members of the class entitled to recovery in this case. As a result, Plaintiffs and Defendant engaged in an electronic discovery exchange during the months of September and October, 2010. The Court was asked to intervene and provide rulings at various stages in this exchange. See Docs. 238, 242, 250.

Approximately six weeks after receiving the additional electronic discovery, Plaintiffs filed a motion seeking permission to conduct further discovery and disclose a supplemental expert report. Doc. 268. The Court entered an order on March 2, 2011, 2011 WL 814719, denying the request for additional discovery. Doc. 300. Because Plaintiffs had concluded in the meantime that permission was not needed to submit a supplemental expert report and had therefore withdrawn the request (Doc. 268), the Court did not rule on the motion for leave to file a supplemental report. Plaintiffs filed the supplemental report on May 13, 2011, approximately two months after the Court denied their request for additional discovery.

The Court concludes that a supplemental expert report was substantially justified in light of the significant electronic data produced by Defendant in September and October of 2010. Because this data was produced after the deadlines for disclosing expert and rebuttal reports, it could not have been included in Plaintiffs’ earlier expert report. It is true that Plaintiffs could have provided the supplement earlier than May of 2011, but the Court notes that issues raised in the motion filed in December of 2010 and resolved in March of 2011 (Docs. 268, 300) affected the content of the supplemental report. Once the Court had ruled, Plaintiffs submitted the report within two months.

Because the Court finds that the supplemental report was substantially justified, striking the report is not appropriate under Rule 37(c)(1). In fairness, Defendant will be afforded an opportunity to respond to the supplemental report. Defendant may file an expert response to the report by October 28, 2011. Plaintiffs may depose Defendant’s expert with respect to the new response.

II. Motions for Summary Judgment.

A. Legal Standards.

The principal purpose of summary judgment is “to isolate and dispose of factually unsupported claims.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323-24, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Summary judgment is appropriate against a party who “fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial.” Id. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548; see Citadel Holding Corp. v. Roven, 26 F.3d 960, 964 (9th Cir.1994). The moving party need not disprove matters on which the [990]*990opponent has the burden of proof at trial. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548.

A party seeking summary judgment “bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of [the record] which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.” Id. Summary judgment is appropriate if the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, shows “that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). Only disputes over facts that might affect the outcome of the suit will preclude the entry of summary judgment, and the disputed evidence must be “such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

The Perezes move for summary judgment on their unjust enrichment claim, and Defendant moves for summary judgment on all claims. The Court will address the Perezes’ claims first, followed by the class claim. The Court will refer to the Perezes as “Plaintiffs” and to the class simply as “the class.”

B. Plaintiffs’ Unjust Enrichment Claim.

The following facts are undisputed.1 Plaintiffs refinanced their loan in the amount of $343,000 and paid for lender title insurance, more specifically an ALTA Extended Coverage Loan Policy (“Policy”). Doc. 317-11 at 2-3. The Policy was underwritten by Defendant First American Title Insurance Company (“First American”) (id. at 3; Doc. 325-1 at 2), and was purchased through First Financial Title Agency of Arizona (“First Financial”) (Doc. 317-11 at 3). First Financial and First American had an agreement pursuant to which First Financial was authorized to issue policies of title insurance underwritten by First American. Doc. 325-1 at 2:18-25. The “premium for [a First American] ‘extended loan policy’ with a coverage amount between $340,001.00 and $345,000.00 according to the Maricopa County Rate Schedule” was $1,549.00 at the time of the transaction, a figure the Court will refer to as the “Basic Rate.” Doc. 325-1 at 3:18-21. Plaintiffs were charged and paid $1,548.00. Doc. 317-11 at ¶ 10.

At the time of the transaction, First American’s Arizona Rate Manual allowed for a discount of 35% on “revamping/refinancing” policies — or, otherwise stated, a “Refinance Rate” of 65% of the Basic Rate. Docs. 325-1 at ¶ 11; 317-6 at 9.

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810 F. Supp. 2d 986, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 99035, 2011 WL 3861677, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/perez-v-first-american-title-insurance-azd-2011.