Justia Injury Law Opinion Summaries

The issue before the Supreme Court in this case stemmed from the grant of summary judgment in favor of an insurance company. The insureds contended that the liability coverage provision in their homeowner's policy required the insurer to defend a lawsuit brought by a contractor they hired to repair fire damage to their home and to remodel the home, and that the insurer was required to indemnify against any recovery by the contractor. Upon review of the policy underlying this case, the Supreme Court found no such duties as the insureds contended and affirmed the district court's judgment. View "Linford v. State Farm Fire & Casualty" on Justia Law

The issue before the Supreme Court in this case centered on an appeal from several district court rulings in an ongoing dispute between Kyle Athay (Athay) and Rich County, Utah (Rich County). Athay was injured in a motor vehicle collision with Daryl Ervin (Ervin), who was fleeing police pursuit. Subsequently, Athay filed a civil suit against the pursuing law enforcement officers from Bear Lake County, Idaho and Rich County. After "Athay II," a jury trial commenced with Rich County as the sole remaining defendant. The jury returned a special verdict for Athay and awarded him $2,720,126.00 in economic damages and $1,000,000 in non-economic damages. The jury found that Ervin was 70% responsible for Athay’s injuries, and that Rich County was responsible for the remaining 30%. On appeal, Rich County argued that the district court made multiple errors: that the district court abused its discretion when it declined to disqualify the presiding judge for the limited purpose of deciding Rich County’s First Motion for a New Trial; that the district court erred by denying Rich County’s first and second motions for new trial; and that the district court erred when it denied Rich County’s Motion for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed the decisions of the district court. View "Athay v. Rich County, Utah" on Justia Law

Randy and Trudi Poole filed an action against Darin Davis, dba Darin Davis Construction (Davis), alleging breach of contract, breach of warranty, and fraud. Davis counterclaimed for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and promissory estoppel. The jury found that the Pooles had prevailed only on the fraud claim and that Davis had not proved any of his counterclaims. The district court entered judgment in favor of the Pooles for damages on the fraud claim. The Pooles moved for attorney fees and costs, claiming that as the prevailing party in a dispute over a commercial transaction, they were entitled to fees pursuant to Idaho Code 12-120(3). The court determined that there was no prevailing party and denied the motion. The Pooles timely appealed, asking the Supreme Court to reverse the decision of the district court and find, as a matter of law, that the Pooles were the prevailing party and are entitled to attorney fees. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Poole v. Davis" on Justia Law

After the roof collapsed on Lakeland True Value Hardware, LLC's (Lakeland) store, Lakeland sought payment for business personal property and business income losses from its insurer, The Hartford Fire Insurance Co. (Hartford). Lakeland filed suit, asserting bad faith and breach of contract. The district court granted summary judgment dismissing the bad faith claim for lack of evidence. The breach of contract claim proceeded to trial, and the jury returned a verdict in favor of Hartford. On appeal, Lakeland challenged the order granting summary judgment. Lakeland also asserted: (1) the jury was confused as to the period of coverage and the district court's evidentiary rulings and jury instructions relevant to that issue were erroneous; (2) the jury verdict was not supported by substantial and competent evidence; and (3) that the district court erred by awarding discretionary costs to Hartford. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Lakeland True Value Hardware v. The Hartford Fire Insurance Co." on Justia Law

This appeal came before the Supreme Court from a declaratory judgment action brought by Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Idaho (Farm Bureau). Farm Bureau brought suit in response to a claim for insurance benefits filed by the personal representatives of the estate of a deceased policyholder (the Estate). Farm Bureau requested a judgment declaring that the Estate was not an "insured" under the decedent's insurance policy and was therefore not entitled to payment of wrongful death damages under the Policy's underinsured motorist coverage. The district court granted the Estate's motion for summary judgment, determining that Idaho's wrongful death statute, entitled the insured's Estate to recover damages for wrongful death and that the Policy provided coverage for those damages. Farm Bureau appealed. Upon review, the Supreme Court reversed: as to the Estate, the Court determined that under the plain language of the wrongful death statute, the Estate was not legally entitled to recover damages for itself, but only to bring an action on behalf of the heirs to recover their damages. "The Estate stepped into [the decedent's] shoes for those claims, and Farm Bureau made those payments to the Estate. Farm Bureau's payment of these legitimate claims under the insurance contract does not constitute a change of position or an admission that coverage exists for other claims. We hold that these payments do not prevent Farm Bureau from arguing that it is not required to pay the Estate for damages that [the decedent] was not legally entitled to recover." View "Farm Bureau v. Estate of Eisenman" on Justia Law

Plaintiff Christina Brooksby demanded payment from Defendant GEICO General Insurance Company, her father's liability insurer, alleging that he negligently injured her by crashing the car in which she was riding. After GEICO refused Plaintiff's demand pursuant to an exclusion in its insurance policy with Father, she sued GEICO for a declaratory judgment establishing coverage. The district court dismissed Plaintiff's complaint for lack of standing, holding that Idaho has no common-law direct-action rule that would give an injured third party standing to sue her tortfeasor’s insurer absent some statutory or contractual authorization, and that Idaho's Uniform Declaratory Judgment Act does not confer standing where it does not otherwise exist. Plaintiff appealed. Upon review, the Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s grant of GEICO’s Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Idaho Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) because the Court concluded Plaintiff lacked standing to seek a declaratory judgment against GEICO. View "Brooksby v. GEICO" on Justia Law

This was an appeal of a district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the State of Idaho, former Governor James E. Risch, and former Fish and Game Department Director Steven Huffaker (collectively "Defendants"). Appellants, Rex and Lynda Rammell, owners of a domestic elk ranch, brought suit against Defendants to recover for the loss and destruction of elk that escaped from their ranch in 2006. Upon review of the matter, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "Rammell v. Idaho" on Justia Law

Two personal injury actions and one wrongful death action arising out of an automobile accident were consolidated on appeal before the Supreme Court. In 2007, Paul -Smith's vehicle collided with a semi-tractor trailer driven by Robert Petrovich. Nicole Plouffe and Tiffany Ann Marie Fragnella were both passengers in Smith's vehicle. Plouffe was severely injured and Fragnella died as a result of her injuries. At the time of the accident, Petrovich was driving the semi-truck for Swift Transportation Co., Inc., and was training a Swift Transportation employee in driving skills. The Swift Transportation trainee, Thomas Thayer, was a passenger in the semi-truck at the time of the collision. Thayer was covered under Swift Transportation's workers' compensation insurance. Smith and his passengers' Amended Complaint alleged that Petrovich was negligently driving the semi-truck. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the Petrovich and Swift, finding that there was no evidence that the accident was caused by Petrovich. The district court also concluded that a third party claim for negligence against Petrovich was separately barred by the exclusive remedy rule under Idaho's Workers' Compensation statutes. Smith appealed to the Supreme Court arguing that the district court erred in granting summary judgment, that the court abused its discretion in denying the Motions for Reconsideration, and that the court erred in determining that the exclusive remedy rule barred the third-party claims against Petrovich. Upon review, the Supreme Court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Petrovich, and found no error in the district court's decision.

The issue in this case arose from a judgment which held that a "Designated Project or Premises" endorsement of a commercial general liability insurance policy purchased by a sporting goods store excluded coverage for a claim arising out of the sale of improperly reloaded ammunition. Petitioner Tom Erekson purchased a used .500 revolver from a sporting goods store, along with three boxes of handloaded ammunition, all of which the store purchased from the gun's previous owner. Erekson and his sons took the revolver to a shooting range, loaded five chambers with the reloaded ammunition, and fired. The one cartridge discharged, but two others detonated simultaneously. When the cartridge under the loading gate detonated, it sheared off the gate, a portion of the cartridge rocketed rearward, and struck Erekson in the forehead, lodging three inches into his brain. He also lost a portion of his thumb. The store held a general liability policy through Markel International Insurance Company. The store brought suit for a court order to declare Erekson's injuries were covered under the policy. The district court held that the injury was excluded; Erekson unsuccessfully moved for reconsideration. Upon review of the policy, the Supreme Court affirmed, finding coverage was excluded under the endorsement.

This appeal arose from a products liability action brought by Jesus Hurtado and John Reitsma, d/b/a J & J Calf Ranch (J & J), against Land O'Lakes, Inc. (Land O'Lakes). J & J alleged that the Land O'Lakes milk replacer it used to feed its dairy calves was defective and caused the death of more than one hundred calves. A jury found in favor of J & J and awarded damages. Land O'Lakes appealed, arguing that the district court improperly admitted expert testimony and that J & J failed to prove both liability and damages. Land O'Lakes petitioned the Supreme Court to vacate the judgment of the district court and enter judgment in its favor or, alternatively, to vacate the judgment and order a new trial. J & J cross-appealed the district court's award of attorney fees, arguing that the court abused its discretion by excluding fees incurred before and during previous litigation in this matter. J & J petitioned the Supreme Court to vacate the award of attorney fees and remand with instructions to include attorney fees accrued in the first trial in its calculation of reasonable attorney fees. Upon review, the Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Land O'Lakes waived issues regarding expert testimony. The Court affirmed the jury verdict because it was supported by substantial competent evidence and affirmed the district court's award of attorney fees because it properly exercised its discretion.