United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Shorenstein Realty Services, L.P.

837 F. Supp. 2d 806, 2011 WL 1814340
District Court, N.D. Illinois·Decided May 11, 2011·No. No. 07 C 3179·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ELAINE E. BUCKLO, District Judge.

This court has already granted summary judgment to SRI Michigan Avenue Venture, LLC, SRI Michigan Avenue Management, Inc., Shorenstein Realty Services, L.P., Shorenstein Management, Inc. and Shorenstein Company, LLC (collectively “Shorenstein”) and National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, PA (“National Union”) on the grounds that Shorenstein was insured under the policies issue by United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company (“USF & G”) and American Motorists Insurance Company (“AMICO”). Shorenstein and National Union have moved for summary judgment on damages, as well as on the issue of which Shorenstein entities are covered under the USF & G and AMICO policies. USF & G filed a cross-motion for summary judgment, which was joined by AMICO. For the reasons that follow, Shorenstein and National Union’s motion is granted in part and denied in part, and USF & G and AMICO’s cross-motion is denied.

I.

This case centers around a tragic accident which took place on March 9, 2002 at the John Hancock Center in Chicago, Illinois. SRI Michigan Avenue Venture, LLC was the owner of the property and Shorenstein Realty Services, L.P. was the manager of the property. This accident happened in connection with a project for which Shorenstein had retained Eckland Consultants, Inc. (“Eckland”), which held a Business Foundation Policy from USF & G with primary and umbrella coverage parts. The USF & G policy had primary limits of $1 million and excess limits of $5 million. On the same project, Shorenstein retained McGinnis Chen & Associates, LLP (“MCA”), which was insured by AMI-CO under a Premier Businessowners Policy (the primary policy) and a Commercial Catastrophe Policy (the excess policy). The AMICO primary policy had a limit of $1 million and the excess policy had a limit of $5 million. In its contracts with Eckland and MCA, Shorenstein required that Eckland and MCA procure coverage for certain Shorenstein entities as additional insureds. Shorenstein itself held coverage that included a $1 million primary policy from The Hartford Fire Insurance Company and a $25 million excess policy from National Union.

AMICO originally agreed to defend Shorenstein under a reservation of rights in the underlying state lawsuit but subsequently refused to indemnify Shorenstein. USF & G refused to defend or indemnify Shorenstein. Ultimately, National Union paid $7,678,928.10 toward the settlement of the underlying lawsuit.

II.

Summary judgment is appropriate if “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). Once the moving party shows that there is no genuine issue of material fact, the burden of proof shifts to the nonmoving party to designate specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. [811]*811317, 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

Shorenstein and National Union argue that National Union is equitably subrogated1 to Shorenstein’s rights against USF & G and AMICO. Under Illinois law, a party asserting equitable subrogation must show: (1) the defendant carrier must be primarily liable to an insured under a policy of insurance; (2) the plaintiff carrier must be secondarily liable to the insured for the same loss under its policy; and (3) the plaintiff carrier must have discharged its liability to the insured and at the same time extinguished the liability of the defendant carrier. See Home Ins. Co. v. Cincinnati Ins. Co., 213 Ill.2d 307, 290 Ill.Dec. 218, 821 N.E.2d 269, 280 (2004).2 Shorenstein and National Union assert that all three elements are met here.

A threshold issue presented by both motions for summary judgment centers on which of the Shorenstein entities listed in the settlement of the underlying state lawsuit are covered by the USF & G and/or AMICO insurance policies.3 I start by looking at which entities were named as defendants in the underlying consolidated lawsuit. The Shorenstein defendants were: (1) Shorenstein Realty Services, L.P.; (2) SRI Michigan Avenue Venture, LLP; (3) Shorenstein Management, Inc.; and (4) SRI Michigan Avenue Management, Inc. However, when the parties settled the underlying lawsuit, the Settlement Agreement listed the following eight parties: (1) Shorenstein Realty Services, LP; (2) SRI Michigan Avenue Venture, LLP; (3) Shorenstein Management, Inc.; (4) SRI Michigan Avenue Management, Inc.; (5) Shorenstein Co., LP; (6) Shorenstein Company LLC; (7) Shorenstein Properties LLC; and (8) Shorenstein Michigan Avenue Venture LLC. Therefore, in addition to the four Shorenstein defendants in the underlying lawsuit, there were four additional Shorenstein entities listed in the Settlement Agreement.

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United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Shorenstein Realty Services, L.P., 837 F. Supp. 2d 806, 2011 WL 1814340 (N.D. Ill. 2011).

837 F. Supp. 2d 806 (United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Shorenstein Realty Services, L.P.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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