Facts

Barbara Greer sued State Farm General Insurance Co., State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., and Thomas Brown, concerning an insurance dispute.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiff was insured by defendant State Farm. Defendant Brown represented plaintiff in an underlying action involving her neighbor Joanne Smay. Smay allegedly attacked plaintiff on May 10, 2012, when plaintiff entered Smay's property to retrieve her dog that had run into Smay's property. Plaintiff retained defendant Brown to represent her in an action against Smay. Brown, however, failed to prosecute the action, resulting in a dismissal. Smay also sued plaintiff in connection with the underlying incident. Brown failed to tender the defense of the Smay action to defendant insurer. As a result, plaintiff retained another law firm to handle the Smay action, Alston, Alston & Diebold.

Alston, Alston & Diebold immediately tendered the complaint to defendant State Farm. Defendant State Farm, however, did not conduct a reasonable or good faith investigation of its duty to defend plaintiff against the Smay action. Rather, defendant State Farm denied defense of the Smay action, prompting this instant lawsuit. Though plaintiff ultimately prevailed in the Smay action, she nevertheless incurred losses and suffered harm as a result of defendants Brown and State Farm's wrongful conduct. Plaintiff asserted claims for breach of contract/duty to defend and tortious breach of the implied covenant of good faith against State Farm. Plaintiff asserted professional malpractice/breach of fiduciary duty claim against Brown.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
State Farm issued a general denial and asserted various affirmative defenses. State Farm also moved for summary judgment because the alleged incident was not covered under either the homeowner policy or the personal liability umbrella policy.

Result

The court ultimately granted summary judgment in favor of State Farm.

Other Information

FILING DATE: Sept. 8, 2014.