California Court of Appeal

In an action involving contribution claims among insurers, arising from the settlement of complaints filed after a fatal crane accident, the trial court erred by 1) interpreting ambiguous terms in plaintiff's policy against it to cover insured for its own negligence and strict products liability, and 2) refusing to allocate fault for the underlying accident between defendant and insured, since that is the only means of determining whether plaintiff's policy is primary to defendant's policy for any portion of the settlement.

Appellate Information

• Decided 09/12/2003
• Published 09/12/2003

Judges

• McCONNELL, J.

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
•  Carol Anne Boyd, Neumeyer & Boyd, Los Angeles, CA, for Plaintiff-Respondent-Cross/Appellant., Joseph Richard Zamora, Santa Monica, CA, Peter Ambs Botz, Hayes, Simpson, Greene, LLP, San Diego, CA, James Patrick Wagoner, McCormick Barstow et al, Fresno, CA, for Defendant-Appellant-Cross/Respondent., Gregory Stephan, Royce, Grimm, Vranjes, McCormick & Graham, San Diego, CA, for Cross-Defendant and Respondent.