Woodring v. Culbertson

227 F.R.D. 290, 61 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 290, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6455, 2005 WL 852437
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedApril 14, 2005
DocketNo. 1:04-CV-460
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 227 F.R.D. 290 (Woodring v. Culbertson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Woodring v. Culbertson, 227 F.R.D. 290, 61 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 290, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6455, 2005 WL 852437 (N.D. Ind. 2005).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

COSBEY, United States Magistrate Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Charles and Nancy Woodring were involved in a car accident with Denise Culbertson in Allen County, Indiana. The Woodrings believe that the accident, and the injuries they suffered in it, were the result of Culbertson’s negligence. Accordingly, they filed this lawsuit against her, as well as Keith Culbertson, who owns the car Denise was driving.

The Woodrings filed suit in federal court in order to take advantage of the Court’s diversity jurisdiction. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332. The Woodrings are citizens of Ohio, the Culbertsons are citizens of Indiana, and more than $75,000 is at stake (the Woodrings seek $320,000 in damages, among other relief); therefore, the requirements for diversity jurisdiction were met when the complaint was filed. See id.

However, Cincinnati Insurance Company has now moved to intervene as a defendant. (Docket # 14.) Cincinnati provides underinsured motorist (“UIM”) coverage to the Woodrings, and therefore it may have a financial stake in this litigation: if the Woodrings win a verdict that the Culbertsons and [292]*292their insurer cannot fully satisfy (ie., it exceeds the limits of the Culbertsons’ allowable liability insurance coverage), Cincinnati might be liable to the Woodrings for the shortfall. Cincinnati thus believes that it should be allowed to intervene as a matter of right under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a). Further complicating matters, Cincinnati contends that once it intervenes, the Court will no longer have jurisdiction over the case because Cincinnati, like the Woodrings, is a citizen of Ohio.

The final wrinkle is that, while the parties were briefing the above issues, Charles Woodring settled his claims against the Culbertsons, prompting the Woodrings and the Culbertsons to file a stipulated motion to dismiss his claims with prejudice. (Docket #18.)

After considering these motions and the relevant law, the Court finds that the motion to dismiss Charles Woodring’s claims with prejudice should be GRANTED, Cincinnati’s petition to intervene should be GRANTED, and the remainder of the case DISMISSED for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.1

II. DISMISSAL OF CHARLES WOODRING

As noted above, the Woodrings and the Culbertsons agree that Charles Woodring’s claims should be dismissed with prejudice, as the parties have reached a settlement on those claims. Although Cincinnati is not a party to the stipulated motion to dismiss Charles’s claims, it received notice of the settlement (see Pl.’s Br. in Opp’n at 2), and it has not opposed the motion. Thus, the motion to dismiss will be granted.2

III. INTERVENTION OF CINCINNATI

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a), subtitled “Intervention of Right,” provides in relevant part:

Upon timely application anyone shall be permitted to intervene in an action ... when the applicant claims an interest relating to the property or transaction which is the subject of the action and the applicant is so situated that the disposition of the action may as a practical matter impair or impede the applicant’s ability to protect that interest, unless the applicant’s interest is adequately represented by existing parties.

The Seventh Circuit has parsed this language into a four-part test, under which a party wishing to intervene of right must show (1) timeliness; (2) an interest relating to the subject matter of the main action; (3) at least potential impairment of that interest if the action is resolved without the intervenor; and (4) lack of adequate representation by existing parties. E.g., Reid L. v. Ill. St. Bd. of Educ., 289 F.3d 1009, 1017 (7th Cir.2002).

The first requirement, timeliness, is “essentially ... a reasonableness standard: potential intervenors need to be reasonably diligent in learning of a suit that might affect their rights, and upon so learning they need to act reasonably promptly.” Nissei Sangyo Am., Ltd. v. U.S., 31 F.3d 435, 438 (7th Cir.1994). In this case, Cincinnati moved to intervene just over two months after the complaint was filed, and before even a initial scheduling conference had taken place. (See Docket # 1, 12, 13.) Woodring does not contend that Cincinnati’s intervention is untimely, and wisely so — Cincinnati’s prompt action easily satisfies the “reasonableness standard.”

The Court’s consideration of the second, third, and fourth elements is informed by the Indiana Court of Appeals’s well-reasoned decision in Westfield Ins. Co. v. Axsom, 684 N.E.2d 241 (Ind.Ct.App.1997). There, the court considered the precise question presented in this case: whether a plaintiffs UIM carrier may intervene as of right in the plaintiff’s suit against a potentially underinsured defendant. 684 N.E.2d at 242. The court, construing an Indiana procedural rule identical to Rule 24(a) and applying the same four-part test at issue here, held that the insurer could intervene as of right. Id. at 245. While Axsom concerns only Indiana [293]*293procedural law and thus is not binding on this Court, see Hanna v. Plumer, 380 U.S. 460, 465, 85 S.Ct. 1136, 14 L.Ed.2d 8 (1965), it nonetheless carries great persuasive value, as detailed below.

The second requirement for intervention is that the intervenor have an interest relating to the subject matter of the case. Here, the subject matter is the Culbertsons’ liability to Woodring for injuries sustained in a car accident, and Cincinnati certainly has an interest in that, as it may be contractually liable to Woodring if the Culbertsons (and their insurer) cannot satisfy a judgment entered against them. As the Axsom court noted, a UIM carrier’s contractual liability to the insured plaintiffs is “inseparably tied to the legal liability” of the defendants. 684 N.E.2d at 244 (quoting Vernon Fire and Cas. Ins. Co. v. Matney, 170 Ind.App. 45, 351 N.E.2d 60, 64 (1976)). In other words, a verdict against the Culbertsons here would be “but the first link in an unbroken chain leading to the contractual liability” of Cincinnati; thus, Cincinnati has an interest in the subject matter of this case. Id. (quoting Matney, 351 N.E.2d at 64).

The third requirement is that Cincinnati must show potential impairment of its interest if this ease is resolved without its intervention. This requirement is easily fulfilled, because Cincinnati will likely be bound by any judgment that Woodring obtains against the Culbertsons in this suit. Ohio law (which presumably applies to the insurance contract between Woodring and Cincinnati, both citizens of Ohio) provides that:

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227 F.R.D. 290, 61 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 290, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6455, 2005 WL 852437, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/woodring-v-culbertson-innd-2005.