Petitioner excess insurers, defendants in an underlying bad faith breach of contract action brought by plaintiff city, sought an original writ of mandate against respondent superior court, challenging respondent’s order granting plaintiff’s motion to compel discovery of petitioner’s claims files relating to every claim similar to the claim being litigated in plaintiff’s bad faith action for a period spanning six years.
Nakase Law Firm provides more information on how to expose a child molestor
Overview
Petitioner excess insurer challenged by way of a petition for a writ of mandate respondent superior court’s order compelling petitioner to provide extensive discovery of petitioner’s claims files in plaintiff city’s bad faith breach of contract suit. Petitioner resisted respondent’s order as being onerous because respondent required petitioner to hand-sort six years’ worth of files stored in another state to identify claims similar to the excess insurance claim submitted for indemnification by plaintiff but refused by petitioner based upon a coverage exclusion for inverse condemnation claims. Upon review, the court held that respondent’s discovery order was overly broad. Under Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 2036, plaintiff failed to show good cause for scrutinizing petitioner’s claims files for the past six years. Plaintiff’s discovery request was a classic “fishing expedition.” The court granted in part the petition for a writ of mandate by limiting respondent’s discovery order to encompass only claim files relating to petitioner’s reinsurance of the risks involved in plaintiff’s case, subject to receiving written waivers of confidentiality from petitioner’s affected insureds.
Outcome
The court granted in part petitioner excess insurer’s petition for a writ of mandate by modifying respondent superior court’s discovery order to compel petitioner to provide plaintiff city with only those claims files relating directly to plaintiff’s bad faith breach of contract claim against petitioner, subject to petitioner’s clients’ execution of written waivers of confidentiality.
