 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Phillips v. Gieringer3/11/2005
No. 5878
I. INTRODUCTION
Traci Phillips was involved in an automobile accident with Carl Gieringer, who was insured under the same State Farm auto insurance policy as his father, Robert Gieringer. After some negotiation and discussion of the case with State Farm, Phillips mistakenly named Carl's father as the defendant driver in the complaint which she filed in a personal injury suit. After the statute of limitations had run, Phillips moved to amend the complaint to name Carl as a defendant. Because Carl maintained that he was unaware of the lawsuit during the limitations period, the superior court dismissed the complaint on statute of limitations grounds, concluding that the new complaint did not relate back to the timely filing against Carl's father. Phillips appeals. Because there is a rebuttable presumption that notice of the complaint and knowledge of the mistake can be imputed to an insured through his insurance company, we reverse the superior court's decision.
II. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
On August 16, 1999, Carl Gieringer and Traci Phillips were involved in an automobile accident in the Alaska Regional Hospital parking lot. Although Carl was not a minor, he was insured under the same State Farm auto insurance policy as his father, Dr. Robert Gieringer, and was driving his mother's car at the time of the accident. Phillips, a nurse, states that she knew of Dr. Robert Gieringer and learned at the time of the accident that the driver was his son.
In April 2001 Phillips retained attorney Robert Rehbock to represent her in her claim of injuries received due to the accident. Rehbock contacted State Farm on April 30, 2001 to inform the company that he would represent Phillips on her claim, and a State Farm adjuster responded in May 2001, asking for Phillips's medical records and stating that State Farm would make a settlement offer after reviewing the records and evaluating the claim. State Farm's letter identified "our insured" as "Robert Gieringer."
Phillips hand delivered a copy of a draft complaint to State Farm on July 16, 2001, with a letter to the adjuster explaining that due to the "steadily approaching statute of limitations deadline," Phillips would file a complaint to preserve her claim if a settlement could not be reached. Two days later, on July 18, 2001, Phillips filed a complaint against "Robert E. Gieringer" but described the "defendant" in her complaint as the driver of the motor vehicle and directed all her claims against the driver.
Although Phillips knew that the driver was the son of Dr. Robert Gieringer, Phillips's counsel mistakenly assumed that the son had the same name as the father. The police report of the accident stated that the driver's name was Carl Gieringer, but Phillips's counsel did not have a copy of the accident report when drafting the complaint.
In December 2001 Phillips faxed a letter to the State Farm adjuster requesting Robert Gieringer's address for service of process. The letter explained, " he only address we have is Dr. Robert E. Gieringer's office and it was Dr. Gieringer's son who should be properly served in this matter. We do not wish to inconvenience Dr. Gieringer . . . ." State Farm's adjuster provided the name of Dr. Gieringer's son as "Karl Gieringer" and noted that "Karl" was believed to be a student attending college outside Alaska. Phillips's attorney wrote to State Farm in late January 2002 to apologize for his error, but this time he misidentified the son as "Keith" or "Kieth." Phillips asked a second time for the son's address and requested that State Farm inform the insureds of the complaint against the son and to direct the matter to the son
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 Alaska Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|