Morella v. Safeco Insurance Company of Illinois

Filing 35

ORDER denying dft's 34 Motion for Reconsideration by Judge Robert S. Lasnik.(RS)

1
2
3
4
5
6

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

7
8
9
10
11
12
13

_______________________________________
)
ENZO MORELLA,
)
)
Plaintiff,
)
v.
)
)
SAFECO INSURANCE COMPANY OF
)
ILLINOIS,
)
)
Defendant.
)
_______________________________________)

No. C12-0672RSL
ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR
RECONSIDERATION

14

On April 12, 2012, the Court granted in part plaintiff’s motion for summary
15

judgment and certified a question to the Washington State Supreme Court. Defendant filed a
16

timely motion for reconsideration. Dkt. # 34. Such motions are disfavored in this district. “The
17

court will ordinarily deny such motions in the absence of a showing of manifest error in the prior
18

ruling or a showing of new facts or legal authority which could not have been brought to its
19

attention earlier with reasonable diligence.” LCR 7(h)(1).
20

Defendant asserts that the Court misconstrued or misapplied the factual record in
21

four ways. It has not, however, shown the type of “manifest error in the prior ruling” that would
22

warrant reconsideration. For the most part, the Court accurately apprehended the existing record
23

and applied the law to those facts. To the extent the Court did err by relying on an inapplicable
24

arbitration agreement when discussing the mandatory vs. permissive nature of the agreement,
25

that discussion was primarily background for the analysis of the phrase “actual damages” as it is
26
ORDER DENYING MOTION
FOR RECONSIDERATION

1

used in the Insurance Fair Conduct Act. The error was not germane to the outcome of the issue

2

or the formulation of the question to be certified to the Washington Supreme Court.

3
4
5
6

For all of the foregoing reasons, defendant’s motion for reconsideration and/or
amendment is DENIED.
Dated this 19th day of June, 2013.

7
8

A
Robert S. Lasnik

9

United States District Judge

10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
ORDER DENYING MOTION
FOR RECONSIDERATION

-2-