American Family Life Assur. Co. of Columbus, Ga. v. U.S. Fire Ins. Co., 85-8895

CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit)
Citation794 F.2d 629
Docket NumberNo. 85-8895,85-8895
PartiesAMERICAN FAMILY LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA, a Georgia corp., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. UNITED STATES FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY and Boston Old Colony Insurance Company, Defendants-Appellants.
Decision Date23 July 1986

John W. Denney, Columbus, Ga., for U.S. Fire Ins. Co.

Michael Hufft, Kansas City, Mo., H. Baxter Harcourt, Columbus, Ga., for Boston Old Ins.

Albert W. Stubbs, Forrest L. Champion, Jr., Columbus, Ga., Thomas E. Deacy, Jr., Kansas City, Mo., Coy R. Johnson, Cumming, Ga., for plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.

Before RONEY and CLARK, Circuit Judges, and HENDERSON, Senior Circuit Judge.

PER CURIAM:

This appeal arises from a law suit filed by American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus, Georgia ("American Family") against its primary and excess liability insurance carriers, Boston Old Colony Insurance Company ("Boston Old Colony") and United States Fire Insurance Company ("U.S. Fire"), respectively. The dispute involves the question of the duties of the insurers with respect to defense and settlement of a lawsuit filed against American Family by Joseph P. Teasdale for malicious prosecution and abuse of process.

The district court entered partial summary judgment in favor of American Family, ruling that the Boston Old Colony and U.S. Fire insurance policies provide liability coverage for all claims alleged in the Teasdale suit, including malicious prosecution, abuse of process and punitive damages, that conflicts of interest existed between Boston Old Colony and American Family and between U.S. Fire and American Family because the insurance companies questioned or denied coverage of the claims in the Teasdale suit, that American Family, because of the conflicts, could negotiate, settle and select lead counsel in the Teasdale suit and that Boston Old Colony and U.S. Fire must reimburse American Family for the settlement amount and for all attorney's fees and expenses incurred and to be incurred in the defense of the Teasdale suit. The court certified these issues as final under Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b) and retained jurisdiction over certain other matters not addressed in the judgment.

Pursuant to the certification, Boston Old Colony and U.S. Fire appealed to this court. They challenge the district court's rulings on the issues just mentioned. Additionally, appellants contend that the fact that a law suit involving the same parties and overlapping issues was pending in the Western District of Missouri at the time the present action was filed in the Middle District of Georgia and remained pending at the time the Georgia district court reached its decision should have rendered that court without jurisdiction over this case. For reasons of mootness and lack of finality, we do not address the issues raised by appellants but dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

While this appeal was pending, the District Court for the Western District of Missouri transferred the overlapping Missouri action to the Middle District of Georgia. Appeal to the Eighth Circuit from the transfer order was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction on the ground that the...

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1 cases
  • American Family Life Assur. Co. of Columbus, Ga. v. U.S. Fire Co.
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit)
    • 10 Octubre 1989
    ...a lack of finality, because the amount of attorney's fees claimed had not yet been determined. American Family Life Assurance Co. v. United States Fire Insurance Co., 794 F.2d 629 (11th Cir.1986). This Court remanded the case to the district court for further proceedings on the attorney's f......

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