John and Nancy Barton v. Valiant Insurance Company and Maryland Casualty Company
Published: Aug. 24, 1996 | Result Date: Jun. 10, 1996 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: 687040 – $416,818
Judge
Court
San Diego Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
John P. McCormick
(McCormick, Mitchell & Rasmussen, APC)
Experts
Plaintiff
Donald Dewhurst
(technical)
Kenneth N. Greenfield
(The Greenfield Law Firm)
(technical)
Jaime A. Cerros
(technical)
Mike Brown
(technical)
Leslie Reed
(technical)
Defendant
Joann Selleck
(technical)
Mitchell Murphy
(technical)
Dave Rader
(technical)
Krikor Hakimian
(technical)
Boyd A. Veenstra
(technical)
Facts
In 1994, the plaintiffs' home experienced substantial structural damage as a result of tree root infiltration of sewer pipes under the house, as well as direct tree root pressure on the foundation. The plaintiffs, the Bartons, made a claim to their insurance company, defendant Valiant Insurance Company and its parent company, Maryland Casualty Company. The defendant insurers claimed that the damage had manifested itself prior to inception of the policy period and that the efficient proximate cause of the damage was not tree roots, which the policy did not exclude, but rather subsidence and/or water infiltration, which was excluded. The plaintiffs also claimed that the insurers handled that claim improperly. The plaintiffs brought this action against the defendants based on breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing theories of recovery.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiffs made a C.C.P. º998 settlement demand for $250,000 (to each defendant). Shortly before trial, the plaintiffs demanded $1 million. The defendants made a conditional settlement offer of $34,560 as to the portion of the claim resolved by summary adjudication.
Damages
The plaintiffs claimed $425,000 in damages.
Other Information
The verdict was reached approximately one year and three months after the case was filed. SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE: Two settlement conferences were held on Janu. 29, 1996 before Judge Bollman and April 12, 1996 before Dennis Schoville, pro tem. They did not resolve the matter. The jury concluded that tree roots were the most important cause of the damage, accepted the plaintiffs' repair recommendations and determined that the defendant insurers had handled the claim unreasonably. In September 1995, the trial judge granted summary adjudication on the insurers' duty to pay for repair of the sewer pipes only. The case proceeded to trial on the issue of coverage for the damage to the house itself.
Deliberation
2 days
Poll
9-3
Length
11 days
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