Rachel O'Connell v. Allstate Insurance Company

• Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
• Decided: July 2, 2021
• Docket: 2021CA0194
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

STATE OF LOUISIANA

COURT OF APPEAL

FIRST CIRCUIT

NO. 2021 CA 0194

RACHEL O' CONNELL

3Mw, VERSUS

ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY

Judgment Rendered. JUL 0 2 2021

On Appeal from the 21st Judicial District Court Parish of Livingston, State of Louisiana Trial Court No. 161, 220

The Honorable Brian K. Abels, Judge Presiding

Robert W. Hallack Attorney for Plaintiff A - ppellant, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Rachel O' Connell

Charles L. Chassaignac, IV Attorneys for Defendant -Appellee, J. Murphy Delaune State Farm Mutual Automobile Baton Rouge, Louisiana Insurance Company

BEFORE: McDONALD, LANIER, AND WOLFE, JJ. WOLFE, J.

Plaintiff appeals a judgment that dismissed her claims against an insurer

based on the district court' s conclusion that the uninsured/underinsured motorist

UM") policy at issue did not provide coverage. On appeal, the parties

acknowledge the existence of a second UM policy that potentially provides

coverage to plaintiff. For the following reasons, we vacate the district court' s

judgment dismissing plaintiff' s claims and remand this matter for further

proceedings.

FACTS

On September 18, 2017, Rachel O' Connell was traveling southbound on La.

Highway 16 in Pine Grove, Louisiana, when she was rear-ended by a vehicle

driven by Travis Boudreaux. Ms. O' Connell alleges that she suffered injuries as a

result of the collision, and she ultimately settled her claims against Mr. Boudreaux

and his liability insurer, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company.

On October 31, 2018, Ms. O' Connell filed the instant suit against Allstate

Insurance Company, alleging that Allstate provided UM coverage for the vehicle

Ms. O' Connell was driving.' On May 3 0, 2019, she amended her petition to name

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company as a defendant, alleging that

State Farm also provided UM coverage.

With regard to State Farm, Ms. O' Connell alleged that she was driving a

2014 Chevrolet C 1500 pickup truck owned by her boyfriend, Ronald Inman, at the

time of the accident. Ms. O' Connell alleged that because she was the mother of

Mr. Inman' s children and a member of his household, she was entitled to State

Farm UM coverage under Mr. Inman' s UM policy ( Policy No. 277 0455 -A21 -

18A).

Allstate was later dismissed on November 6, 2020. 2 State Farm subsequently filed a motion for summary judgment, urging that it

provided no UM coverage to Ms. O' Connell under the policy at issue because she

was not a resident relative of [ Ronald Inman] at the time of the accident."

Following a hearing, the district court signed a judgment on November 16, 2020,

granting State Farm' s motion for summary judgment. The judgment further

provided that Ms. O' Connell' s " claims against State Farm Mutual Automobile

Insurance Company are dismissed with prejudice[.]" Ms. O' Connell filed the

instant appeal to seek review of the November 16, 2020 judgment.

After the record was lodged with this court, Ms. O' Connell and State Farm

hereinafter collectively " movers") filed a " Joint Motion to Remand to District

Court." In the motion, movers request that this court grant Ms. O' Connell' s

appeal and remand this matter to the 21st Judicial District for further

proceedings."

DISCUSSION

In their motion, movers note that the summary judgment was granted on the

basis that " no coverage existed for [ Ms. O' Connell] under State Farm policy [ no.]

277 0455 -A21 - 18A." The movers aver that after Ms. O' Connell prepared her

appellate brief, State Farm " discovered new policy information that indicates that

coverage is available to [ Ms. O' Connell] under a separate State Farm policy." As

such, State Farm asserts that while the basis for its motion for summary judgment

was correct as to the referenced policy, Ms. O' Connell' s " appeal should

nevertheless be granted, and this matter remanded to the 21 st Judicial District

Court for further proceedings, as other coverage with State Farm existed for [ Ms.

O' Connell] at the time of the subject accident."

Pursuant to La. Code Civ. P. art. 2164, courts of appeal have the power to

remand a case for the introduction of additional evidence if grave injustice might

result from failure to do so. Cottonport Bank v. Garrett, 2012- 0688 ( La. App. 3 1st Cir. 12/ 21/ 12), 111 So. 3d 431, 436, writ denied, 2013- 0165 ( La. 3/ 1/ 13), 108

So. 3d 1182. Such a remand is warranted only when the new evidence is likely to affect the outcome of the case. Id. However, the power to remand on this basis

should be used sparingly. Id. at 437. Whether a particular case is remanded is a

matter over which the court has much discretion and is governed by the particular

facts and circumstances of each case. Id. When the appellate court remands the

case without rendering a decision so the district court may receive new evidence,

the appellate court is required to set aside the existing judgment. Love v. AAA

Temporaries, Inc., 2003- 1460 ( La. 10/ 17/ 03), 858 So. 2d 410, 411 ( per curiam).

In light of the movers' acknowledgement that State Farm may have issued a

policy that provides UM coverage to Ms. O' Connell, we agree that a remand is

appropriate in this case. In their motion, the movers also request that this court

grant the ... appeal[.]" However, the sole issue before this court on appeal is

whether policy no. 277 0455 -A21 -18A provided coverage to Ms. O' Connell. 2

Effectively, a " grant of the appeal" would require this court to consider whether

coverage is afforded Ms. O' Connell under the referenced policy. Given the

movers' acknowledgment that coverage may be afforded Ms. O' Connell under a

different policy issued by State Farm, we make no determination as to the merits of

the underlying appeal insofar as doing so at this time would run contrary to the

policy against piecemeal litigation. See e. g., Daigle & Associates, APLC v.

Lafayette Ins. Co., 2004- 0915 ( La. App. 1st Cir. 6/ 29/ 05), 916 So. 2d 1078, 1080-

81 ( finding appellate review not warranted where a determination of coverage

based on one provision of an insurance policy would not moot the need for review

of a subsequent decision by the trial court based on different provisions of the

same policy).

2 This court' s review is limited to the record before it as it existed at the time the underlying judgment was rendered. See Collins v. Mike' s Trucking Co., Inc., 2005- 0238 ( La. App. 1st Cir. 5/ 5/ 06), 934 So.2d 827, 836, writ denied, 2006- 1914 ( La. 12/ 8/ 06) 943 So. 2d 1094. See also Uniform Rules — Courts of Appeal, Rule 1- 3. 4 Moreover, we note that the district court' s November 16, 2020 judgment

dismissed all of Ms. O' Connell' s claims, and the dismissal was not limited to the

claims brought under the specific policy at issue in this appeal. As such, given that

we are remanding this matter without decision, we are required to set aside the

referenced judgment that dismissed the entirety of Ms. O' Connell' s claims against State Farm. See Love, 858 So. 2d at 411.

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, we vacate the November 16, 2020 judgment

granting summary judgment in favor of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance

Company. We also grant the movers' joint motion to remand this matter to the

district court. All costs of this appeal are assessed equally between the parties.

JUDGMENT VACATED; MOTION GRANTED; AND MATTER REMANDED.