Sehl v. Neff

26 A.3d 1130, 2011 Pa. Super. 153, 2011 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1752, 2011 WL 2990902
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 25, 2011
Docket3438 EDA 2009
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 26 A.3d 1130 (Sehl v. Neff) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sehl v. Neff, 26 A.3d 1130, 2011 Pa. Super. 153, 2011 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1752, 2011 WL 2990902 (Pa. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION BY

FREEDBERG, J.:

This matter is before the Court on Elizabeth E. Sehl’s appeal from the order entered by the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County on October 26, 2009. We affirm.

On May 19, 2009, Appellant filed a complaint against Appellee Elizabeth Neff and State Farm Mutual Insurance Companies (“State Farm”) 1 in Philadelphia County relating to her injuries resulting from a car accident that occurred in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Appellant sued Appellee for negligence in causing the accident and sued State Farm for breach of contract relating to the denial of Appellant’s underinsured motorist benefits claim. On June 18, 2009, Appellee filed preliminary objections alleging improper venue. On October 22, 2009, the trial court sustained the venue objection and transferred the matter to Montgomery County, the county in which Appellant resided and the accident occurred. On November 16, 2009, Appellant filed a motion *1132 for reconsideration, which was denied by the trial court on July 20, 2010.

On appeal, Appellant raises one issue for our review: “Did the trial court err by sustaining Appellee, Elizabeth Neffs preliminary objection to venue in Philadelphia County where Appellant filed a Complaint for bodily injuries suffered in a motor vehicle accident against a tortfeasor and in contract against an underinsured motorist carrier?” Brief for the Appellant, at 3.

When reviewing a trial court’s decision to transfer venue, our standard of review is as follows: “A trial court’s decision to transfer venue will not be disturbed absent an abuse of discretion. An abuse of discretion occurs when the trial judge overrides or misapplies the law, or exercises judgment in a manifestly unreasonable manner, or renders a decision based on partiality, prejudice, bias or ill-will.” Forrester v. Hanson, 901 A.2d 548, 552 (Pa.Super.2006) (citations and quotation marks omitted).

Venue is governed by Pa.R.C.P. 1006, “Venue. Change of Venue,” which provides:

(a) Except as otherwise provided by subdivisions (a.l), (b) and (c) of this rule, an action against an individual may be brought in and only in a county in which
(1) the individual may be served or in which the cause of action arose or where a transaction or occurrence took place out of which the cause of action arose or in any other county authorized by law
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(b) Actions against the following defendants, except as otherwise provided in subdivision (c), may be brought in and only in the counties designated by the following rules: political subdivisions, Rule 2103; partnerships, Rule 2130; unincorporated associations, Rule 2156; corporations and similar entities, Rule 2179.
(c)(1) Except as otherwise provided by paragraph (2), an action to enforce a joint or joint and several liability against two or more defendants, except actions in which the Commonwealth is a party defendant, may be brought against all defendants in any county in which the venue may be laid against any one of the defendants under the general rules of subdivisions (a) or (b).

Appellant argues that because venue was proper against State Farm in Philadelphia County, pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 2179 2 , that venue is also proper there against Appellee, pursuant to Rule 1006(c)(1). The issue in dispute is whether Appellee and State Farm may be held jointly or jointly and severally liable. If the parties are not jointly or jointly and severally liable, then venue is not proper in Philadelphia County for the claim against Appellee. See Ro-Med Construction Co., Inc. v. Clyde M. Bartley Co., Inc., 239 Pa.Super. 311, 361 A.2d 808 (1976) (finding that venue was proper in Lawrence County where the plaintiff alleged joint or joint and several liability and one of the defendants was subject to venue in the county); Tarasi v. Settino, 223 Pa.Super. 158, 298 A.2d 903, 904 (1972) (“[Wjhere defendants residing in separate counties jointly or jointly and severally incur an obligation or commit a tort, a single action can be brought against all defendants either in the county of the cause, or in a county in which one of the defendants may be served.”).

*1133 Appellee argues that the claim against her is a tort claim arising out of the car accident, while the claim against State Farm is a contract claim arising out of a denial of benefits. She points out that the complaint lists the claims in separate counts against each defendant, so that there is neither joint nor joint and several liability averred. Thus, Appellee contends that venue in Philadelphia County is not supported by Pa.R.C.P. 1006(c)(1). The trial court agreed with this position, finding that the claims against Appellee and State Farm were “separate and distinct.”

Appellant asserts that the trial court’s “restrictive interpretation of ‘joint’ or ‘joint and several’ under Pa.R.Civ.P. 1006(c)(1)” is incorrect. Brief for the Appellant, at 10. She continues by alleging that there is authority to expand venue against an individual defendant when permissive joinder is appropriate under Pa.R.C.P. 2229, which provides:

Rule 2229. Permissive Joinder
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(b) A plaintiff may join as defendants persons against whom the plaintiff asserts any right to relief jointly, severally, separately or in the alternative, in respect of or arising out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrences if any common questions of law or fact affecting the liabilities of all such persons will arise in the action.

However, she points to no authority for the proposition that the permissive joinder rule abrogates Pa.R.C.P. 1006. In fact, Pa.R.C.P. 2231(d) provides:

Rule 2231. Effect of Joinder. Practice in General
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(d) Except as otherwise provided by the rules, the joinder of parties in any action shall not affect the procedural rights which each party would have if ... sued separately ...

Thus, in Meyer v. Heilman, 503 Pa. 472, 469 A.2d 1037 (1983), the Supreme Court stated that “the permissibility of joinder is always subject to jurisdictional requirements.” 469 A.2d at 1041; see also Mayer v. Garman, 590 Pa. 268, 912 A.2d 762, 765-766 (2006). “For procedural purposes, objections to venue are treated as raising a question of jurisdiction.” Deyarmin v. Consol. Rail Corp., 931 A.2d 1

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
26 A.3d 1130, 2011 Pa. Super. 153, 2011 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1752, 2011 WL 2990902, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sehl-v-neff-pasuperct-2011.