Haight attorney Kristian B. Moriarty defended a national insurance company client in a Riverside County Superior Court action filed by another insurance carrier seeking equitable contribution and indemnity. It was contended that our client was liable for an equitable portion of approximately $800,000 paid to defend and indemnify a mutual insured property manager, in an underlying case filed in Clark County, Nevada.
Haight filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, arguing no duty existed to defend the property manager in the underlying action, as a matter of law, because the complaint in the underlying action did not clearly allege property damages were caused by the property manager. The carrier seeking equitable contribution and indemnity from our client also filed its own Motion for Summary Judgment, seeking a determination that our client owed a duty to defend and indemnify the property manager, arguing our client was liable for at least one-third of the total $800,000 paid on behalf of the mutual insured. On August 8, 2017, the Riverside County Superior Court granted our client’s Motion for Summary Judgment and denied the opposing carrier’s Motion for Summary Judgment.