Miles v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co.
| Decision Date | 11 January 1980 |
| Citation | 381 So.2d 13 |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
| Parties | James P. MILES et al. v. ST. PAUL FIRE & MARINE INS. CO. Elgin DARDEN et al. v. ST. PAUL FIRE & MARINE INS. CO. Charles Lloyd GILBERT v. ST. PAUL FIRE & MARINE INS. Co. C. L. GILBERT et al. v. ST. PAUL FIRE & MARINE INS. CO. 78-461 and 78-500 to 78-502. |
William P. Boggs and J. Marise Mims of Boggs & Mims, Clanton, for appellants.
Robert E. Parsons of McDaniel, Hall, Parsons & Conerly, Birmingham, for appellees.
These four consolidated cases involve the exact policy provision which was recently considered by this Court and set out in Watkins v. St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co., 376 So.2d 660 (Ala.1979). The Watkins case involved a summary judgment granted in favor of the insurance company. We reversed and remanded because we concluded that a question of fact existed with respect to whether or not an attorney-client relationship existed between the insured, Attorney John Marcus, and Mrs. Watkins.
In these four cases, it is undisputed that all of the parties-plaintiffs had, at one time, been clients of the insured. All of them left funds with the attorney to be invested by him in what he designated "the lawyer-client trust fund." The trial court construed the policy provision to preclude coverage because, in its words, "there was not an ordinary regular attorney client relationship between these plaintiffs and Mr. Marcus." Apparently, the trial court believed that the policy afforded coverage only if the insured was actually representing the plaintiffs in a legal proceeding at the time of the loss. However, the policy provision which provides coverage includes "the insured's acts as an administrator, conservator, executor, guardian, trustee or any similar fiduciary capacity . . . ." Mr. Marcus, representing these people as an investment counselor, surely was acting in a fiduciary capacity with respect to each of them, all of whom were undisputedly clients of his. Therefore, under at least one construction of the policy provision, there was coverage. It is axiomatic that, if a policy is subject to more than one interpretation, it is to be construed to afford coverage and against the insuror. Black's Law Dictionary, Revised Fourth Edition, defines fiduciary capacity as follows:
"One is said to act in a 'fiduciary capacity' or to receive money or contract a debt in a 'fiduciary capacity,' when the business which he transacts, or the money or...
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Continental Cas. Co. v. Burton
...the activity of an attorney who invested money from clients whom he had represented in a legal capacity. See Miles v. St. Paul Fire and Marine Ins. Co., 381 So.2d 13 (Ala.1980). Continental's reliance on the Virginia Supreme Court's definition of the practice of law in its Rules of Court, 2......
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Potomac Ins. Co. v. McIntosh, 1
...client's real estate purchase constituted the practice of law; business enterprise exclusion not an issue); Miles v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 381 So.2d 13 (Ala.1980) (attorney who invested clients' funds in attorney-client trust fund was covered under policy because attorney was act......
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Colbert County Hosp. Bd. v. Bellefonte Ins. Co.
...to more than one interpretation, it should be construed in favor of coverage, and against the insurer. See Miles v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 381 So.2d 13, 14 (Ala.1980); see also St. Paul, 2 Haw.App. at 596, 637 P.2d at 1147 (insurance contract is contract of adhesion, to be constru......
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Marcus v. St. Paul Fire and Marine Ins. Co., Civ. A. No. 78-470-N.
...as a matter of law or they do not." See, Watkins v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 376 So.2d 660 (Ala.1979); Miles v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 381 So.2d 13 (Ala.1980). All of these decisions by courts charged with the responsibility of studying and ascertaining the law and/or on o......
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Emerging Issues in Directors' and Officers' Liability Insurance Coverage
...1981). 32. Cf. Watkins v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co., 376 So. 2d 660 (Ala. 1979); Miles v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co., 381 So.2d 13 (Ala. 1980) (attorneys acting in capacity as lawyers-fiduciaries for their clients were covered by malpractice policy). Compare, Smith v. T......