Attorney Fees

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Continental Western Insurance Company v. Country Mutual Insurance Company

Case No.: 20-2962

Officials: FLAUM, SCUDDER, and KIRSCH, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Attorney Fees

In the aftermath of a serious collision between an ambulance and semi-truck, a question lingered: Who owned the ambulance? This inquiry turned contentious as two insurance companies looked to sidestep primary coverage obligations arising from three post-accident lawsuits. The ambulance service’s formation through a joint enterprise and status as a separately insured party complicated the resultant ownership determination. The district court determined that defendant-appellant Country Mutual Insurance Company’s named insured owned the ambulance, holding Country Mutual responsible for primary coverage for the defense costs in question. Accordingly, the district court found that plaintiff-appellee Continental Western Insurance Company’s named insured did not own the ambulance such that Continental only owed coverage in excess of Country Mutual’s primary coverage. After granting summary judgment to Continental on these grounds, the court awarded Continental attorney’s fees and defense costs equal to the amounts that Country Mutual should have covered but that Continental, in fact, incurred to defend its insured in the three underlying lawsuits. Considering the record evidence strongly reflects the parties’ intent that Country Mutual’s insured owned the ambulance and considering the reasonableness of the resulting award of attorney’s fees under Illinois law, we affirm the district court.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is Corporate Counsel, at Salesforce.