 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Machen v. Bivens2/11/2005
This is a civil action seeking recovery of damages for personal injury. The plaintiffs-appellants, Evonne L. Machen and Richard A. Machen, Jr., appeal an adverse partial summary judgment, dismissing their claims against the defendant-appellee, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, under one of two insurance policies it issued. For the following reasons, we affirm.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
This action arose from a motor vehicle accident which occurred on November 15, 1998, in Slidell, Louisiana. The plaintiff, Evonne L. Machen, was driving her automobile when it was involved in a collision with another automobile driven by the defendant, Kristy Bivens Heckman, but owned by a friend, Carissa Trapani. Plaintiffs sued Ms. Heckman, as well as National Automotive Insurance Company (Ms. Trapani's automobile liability insurer), State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm), and Allstate Insurance Company, her own underinsured motorists coverage insurer.
It is undisputed that Ms. Heckman was married and not living with her mother at the time of the accident. State Farm had issued two separate policies of automobile liability insurance to Ms. Heckman's mother, Veronica Bivens, in which two different insured vehicles, a Chevrolet S- 10 truck and a Honda Civic automobile, were described. State Farm conceded that one of these policies, Policy No. L16 9921-C22-18A (the Chevrolet S-10 policy), provided coverage to Ms. Heckman for her use of the non-owned vehicle. However, it denied that coverage was provided under the other policy, Policy No. L04 8697-B31-18 (the Honda Civic policy), on the grounds that Ms. Heckman was not an insured under that policy.
State Farm moved for partial summary judgment on the issue of insurance coverage under the Honda Civic policy. Its motion was heard on March 25, 2003. The trial court issued its written reasons for judgment on March 28, 2003, expressing its ruling in favor of State Farm and directing the preparation of a formal judgment to be signed. The trial court's judgment was signed on May 23, 2003. From that judgment, plaintiffs appeal, assigning as error the trial court's rendition of summary judgment despite policy ambiguity, based upon the alleged incomplete nature of State Farm's policy in the record and the ambiguous language of the policy definition at issue.
JURISDICTION
The partial summary judgment at issue does not dismiss State Farm from this litigation, but rather determines only the particular issue of the applicability of one policy of insurance to plaintiffs' claims, as authorized by La. C.C.P. art. 966(E). Thus, under La. C.C .P. art. 1915(B), the judgment is not final for purposes of appeal unless the trial court certifies it as final after determining there is no just reason for delay in appellate review. The trial court's judgment sets forth the requisite certification, but its reasons for concluding there is no just reason for delay were not stated. Accordingly, we are required to conduct a de novo review of the propriety of certification. Motorola v. Associated Indemnity Corporation, 02-1351, p. 16 (La.App. 1st Cir.10/22/03), 867 So.2d 723, 732. Based upon our consideration of the relevant factors for such review, we find that the trial court's certification was indeed appropriate. We therefore have jurisdiction of this appeal.
SUMMARY JUDGMENT
The judgment from which this appeal is taken is a partial summary judgment, and therefore subject to de novo review as to whether summary judgment was appropriate. Motorola v. Associated Indemnity Corporation, 02-0716, p. 5 (La.App. 1st Cir.6/25/04), 878 So.2d 824, 828, writs denied, 04
Page 1 2 3 4 Louisiana Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
By using the system, you agree to TERMS OF SERVICE
|