Flintkote Company v. Aviva PLC

Filing 169

THIRD ORDER ON BOND (Illston, Susan) (Filed on 7/27/2016)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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FLINTKOTE COMPANY, et al.,

Case No. 15-cv-01638-SI

Plaintiffs,
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v.

THIRD ORDER ON BOND

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AVIVA PLC, et al.,

Re: Dkt. Nos. 156, 161, 164, 167

Defendants.

United States District Court
Northern District of California

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On May 16, 2016, following multiple rounds of briefing on the issue, the Court ordered

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defendants to post a total bond amount of $2.442 million (USD) “with all deliberate haste.” Dkt.

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No. 164. Defendants were additionally ordered to “timely notify the Court of the posting of the

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bond.” Id. No bond has been posted. On July 20, 2016, defendants were ordered to show cause

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why no bond had been posted, or, if the bond had been posted, why no notice was provided to the

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Court. Dkt. No. 167. Defendants were additionally ordered to show cause as to why they should

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not be sanctioned for failure to comply with the Court’s order. Id.

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The parties filed a joint statement explaining that “[n]o bond had been posted because the

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Parties are working to finalize a settlement of this matter[.] Dkt. No. 168 at 2. The parties “hope

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to conclude settlement negotiations in the next few weeks” and state that they “will advise the

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Court when final settlement documents are executed.” Id. at 3.

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As noted in prior order of this Court, the clear language of California Insurance Code

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section 1616 mandates that defendants post a bond to secure the payment of any final judgment

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which may be rendered in the present action. See, e.g., Dkt. No. 161; see also Cal. Ins. Code

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§ 1616 (“Before any nonadmitted foreign or alien insurer shall file or cause to be filed any

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pleading in any action, suit or proceeding instituted against it, the insurer shall . . . give a bond in

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the action, suit or proceeding in an amount to be fixed by the court sufficient to secure the

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payment of any final judgment which may be rendered in the action, suit, or proceeding.”

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(emphasis added)).

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In light of this, the parties are ORDERED file a joint status update advising the Court of

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the progress they have made concluding these settlement discussions by August 19, 2016. Should

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the matter not settle by this date the Court ORDERS the parties to file a status update every 14

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days until the matter has settled. The Court retains the authority to ORDER defendants to

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immediately post the bond.

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: July 27, 2016
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SUSAN ILLSTON
United States District Judge

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