Recent Articles

Withdrawal of Motion to reconsider results in untimely appeal

May 03, 2010 17:25

Vanderwerf v. SmithKline Beecham Corp. involved a claim by surviving family members that the drug Paxil caused or contributed to a suicide.  Over the course of the proceedings, several partial judgments were granted, with the end result being that all claims were eventually dismissed.  A...

Trial court order remanding to plan administrator not immediately appealable

May 03, 2010 16:47

In Miller vs. Monumental Life Ins. Co. the trial court ordered (after remand from a prior appeal) that the ERISA based case be sent back to the plan administrator so the record could be completed.  The plaintiff, Miller, appealed from this order, claiming it was improper on various...

Oklahoma's Tort Claims Act does not prohibit action against City for loss covered by insurance

April 21, 2010 00:03

In Salazar Roofing & Construction, Inc. v. City of Oklahoma City, 2010 OK 34, a city dump truck driver backed up into Salazar’s dump truck, causing damages. The City admitted that the city driver was in the course and scope of his employment and admitted liability, but claimed it was...

UM exclusion violates public policy

April 20, 2010 23:20

In Morris v. America First Insurance Company, 2010 OK 35, the Oklahoma Supreme Court in answering a question certified from the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, found that a UM exclusion violated Oklahoma public policy.  Specifically, the court found that an...

Confession of liability results in no coverage

April 14, 2010 02:51

Alea London Ltd. v. Canal Club, Inc., 2010 OK CIV APP 33 is an odd case. It starts out as a liquor liability exclusion case and ends up being an assumption of liability case. Canal Club was the insured, and Alea the insurer. Canal Club was sued when an intoxicated patron (Valle) left...

Apparent Authority to reject UM?

April 13, 2010 19:09

In Traders Insurance v. Johnson, the question was whether the daughter, not a named insured, had authority to reject UM (uninsured motorist) coverage on a policy issued to her parents. The answer is “maybe.” Oklahoma’s UM statute limits the right to reject UM to named insureds...

Business pursuits exclusion

April 12, 2010 22:43

A homeowner’s policy did not cover a claim for the wrongful death of a high school girl who was mauled by a tiger. In Safeco v. Hilderbrand, the insureds ran an animal sanctuary for exotic animals no longer wanted by zoos and circuses. While it was a non profit organization, the...

Workers comp carrier, Employer may sue for certain death benefits

April 08, 2010 18:40

In McBride v. NES Rentals, an employee was killed on the job in a multi vehicle accident.  The employee's family received workers comp death benefits, then sued the various tortfeasors.  The employer and the workers comp carrier sought to intervene.  The trial court denied the...

Auto policy reformed regarding Family Exclusion

April 01, 2010 01:56

In Allstate v. Moser, Moser was injured in a one car accident. Moser was a passenger, and her brother was driving. Allstate’s policy was issued in Colorado to Moser’s parents . It had $100,000 limits and contained a family exclusion. There was an accident in...

ERISA preemption may not apply to Indian tribes

March 31, 2010 19:11

The Tenth Circuit has determined that ERISA’s exception for governmental plans applies to plans sponsored by Indian tribes, so long as those plans meet the requirements of the definition. This means that ERISA preemption does not apply to insurance plans involving Indian...