United Financial Casualty Company v. Alley
Filing
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ORDER denying 7 Motion to Intervene. Signed by Judge John W. Sedwick on 9/3/15. (GMM, CHAMBERS STAFF)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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DISTRICT OF ALASKA
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United Financial Casualty Co.,
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Plaintiff,
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vs.
Steven Alley, Sr.,
Defendant.
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3:15-cv-106 JWS
ORDER AND OPINION
[Re: Motion at docket 7]
I. MOTION PRESENTED
At docket 7, proposed intervener defendant Steven Alley, II (“Steven”) moves for
leave to intervene pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 24(b)(1)(B). Plaintiff United Financial
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Casualty Co. (“United”) opposes at docket 10. Steven replies at docket 12. Oral
argument was not requested and would not assist the court.
II. DISCUSSION
United issued a commercial automobile insurance policy (“Policy”) applicable to
a 1982 Western 480 dump truck (“Dump Truck”) owned by Steven Alley, Sr. (“Senior”)
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with $750,000 in liability coverage which was in effect at the time of the accident
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underlying this litigation. That accident took place on September 18, 2013, when
Senior was driving his 2000 Chevrolet pickup (“Pickup”) from Valdez to Fairbanks and
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lost control of the Pickup which went off the road. Steven was a passenger in the
Pickup. He was badly injured in the accident. Senior had the Pickup insured w ith State
Farm Automobile Insurance Company (“State Farm”) pursuant to a State Farm policy
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having a liability limit of $50,000/person and $100,000/accident. Stev en suffered
damages in excess of the State Farm liability limit.
Steven’s lawyer made a demand on United for payment of the $750,000 liability
limit under the Policy, asserting that the coverage for the Dump Truck is somehow
applicable to the Pickup. United filed the instant action on June 26, 2015, seeking a
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declaration that United has no duty under the Policy to provide liability coverage for the
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accident involving the Pickup.
This court has jurisdiction based on the diversity of citizenship between United
and Senior.1
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III. DISCUSSION
As pertinent here, Rule 24 provides that if a timely motion is made, the court may
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permit intervention in a lawsuit by a party who “has a claim or defense that shares with
the main action a common question of law or fact.”2 The motion is clearly timely. The
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common question asserted by Steven is whether the Policy provides coverage for the
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accident involving the Pickup.
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A leading treatise has explained the extent of the court’s discretion when
assessing a motion to intervene: If there is no right to intervene under Rule 24(a), it is
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28 U.S.C. § 1332.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 24(b)(1)(B).
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wholly discretionary with the court whether to allow intervention under Rule 24(b), and
even though there is a common question of law or fact, or the requirements of
Rule 24(b) are otherwise satisfied, the court may refuse to allow intervention.”3
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United contends that intervention should not be allowed, because Steven himself
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has no claim which he could pursue against United. Under the law of Alaska, which
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applies here, that is true. In Severson v. Estate of Severson, the Alaska Supreme
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Court held that a tort victim cannot maintain an action against the tortfeasor’s insurer.4
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Steven argues that this case presents an intra-family tort dispute which should take it
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beyond the reach of the basic rule prohibiting the victim from suing the tortfeasor’s
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insurer. He cites Myers v. Robertson.5 That case does not support Steven’s position.
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There, the issue was whether the availability of insurance should be disclosed to the
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jury in an intra-family tort case. The Alaska court wrote:
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Without explaining the basic alignment of the parties, and the Robertsons’
role as purely nominal defendants, there was a risk of confusing the jurors
and unfairly prejudicing them against the plaintiff. In reaching this result,
we do not overrule Severson . . . .6
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The court now focuses on the text of the rule which governs intervention. It
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states that permissive intervention may be allowed when the would be intervener has a
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“claim or defense” which shares a common question with the case already before the
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7C Fed. Prac. & Proc. Civ. § 1913 (3d ed.)
627 P.2d 649, 651 (Alaska 1981). See also, Evron v. Gilo, 777 P.2d 182, 187 (Alaska
1989) (declining to re-examine the rule stated in Severson).
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891 P.2d 199, 208 (Alaska 1995).
Id.
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court.7 The word “claim” in this context clearly means a “claim for relief,” which is the
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phrase used in Rule 8. 8 Here, by virtue of Alaska law, Steven cannot plead a claim for
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relief against United. By like token, Steven cannot present a “defense,” because United
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has not pled any claim against Steven.
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To be sure, Steven has a financial interest in the outcome of United’s suit
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against Senior, but having an interest in the outcome is not equivalent to having a claim
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or defense. There are many circumstances in which one person may have an interest
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in the outcome of litigation against someone else, but yet not have a claim or defense
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which could be pled in the litigation. For example, any creditor of a defendant may
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have an interest in the outcome of a lawsuit, because the defendant-debtor’s financial
viability affects the creditor’s ability to get paid.
Steven’s lawyer paints a sympathetic picture of Steven’s circumstances.
However, the court declines to allow sympathy for Steven’s situation to trump
adherence to the controlling state substantive law and federal procedural rules.
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III. CONCLUSION
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For the reasons above, this court exercises its discretion to deny the request to
intervene. The motion at docket 7 is DENIED.
DATED this 3rd day of September 2015.
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/s/ JOHN W. SEDWICK
SENIOR UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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Fed. R. Civ. P. 24(b)(1)(B).
Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a).
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