Opinion
CIVIL ACTION No. 14-122
05-13-2014
CAROLYN CLINE v. STATE FARM FIRE AND CASUALTY COMPANY
ORDER
Before the Court is a motion by plaintiff to compel appraisal. Defendant, State Farm Fire and Casualty Company ("State Farm"), has filed an opposition, to which plaintiff has filed a reply.
R. Doc. No. 5.
R. Doc. No. 12.
R. Doc. No. 21.
Plaintiff seeks to compel State Farm to submit to the appraisal process set forth in the insurance policy. That policy provides that, if there is a disagreement as to the amount of loss, either party can issue a written "demand that the amount of loss be set by appraisal." Once such a demand is issued, each party must select a "competent, disinterested appraiser," and the two appraisers will "select a competent, impartial umpire." If the two appraisers cannot reach an agreement, their dispute is ultimately submitted to the umpire.
R. Doc. No. 5, at 1.
R. Doc. No. 12-2, at 2.
R. Doc. No. 12-2, at 2.
R. Doc. No. 12-2, at 2.
R. Doc. No. 12-2, at 2. If the appraisers cannot agree on an umpire, either party can request that the Court select one. Id.
Plaintiff issued her written demand on August 29, 2012, and simultaneously appointed Mark Clemons as her appraiser. State Farm contends that Mr. Clemons is not disinterested because he "is presently acting as an adverse expert witness to State Farm" in other cases. Moreover, Mr. Clemons has been hired by the same firm retained by plaintiff to represent plaintiffs in other cases. Accordingly, State Farm's challenge is essentially to Mr. Clemons' relationship with the law firm employed by plaintiff.
R. Doc. No. 5-4, at 1.
R. Doc. No. 12, at 1-2.
R. Doc. No. 12, at 3.
State Farm frames the question as "whether an individual so tied to the litigation fortunes of a firm's insurance docket can be deemed a disinterested appraiser in another of the firm's cases." See R. Doc. No. 12, at 4.
"[W]here a party challenges the use of a particular appraiser, evidence must be presented showing that the appraiser's honesty or integrity is suspect." Dufrene v. Certain Interested Underwriters at Lloyd's of London Subscribing to Certificate No. 3051393, 91 So. 3d 397, 402 (La. App. 5th Cir. 2012). State Farm has come forward with no such evidence. Moreover, State Farm has not identified authority supporting the proposition that an appraiser's relationship with a party's attorney, rather than with the party herself, is sufficient to make the requisite showing. The cases on which State Farm relies involve challenges to an appraiser's relationship with a party—not an appraiser's relationship with a party's attorney. See, e.g., Gebers v. State Farm Gen. Ins. Co., 45 Cal. Rptr. 2d 725, 728 (Cal. App. 4th 1995) ("[T]he appraiser selected by State Farm was currently retained by State Farm as an expert witness in two pending court actions.").
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that the motion to compel is GRANTED IN PART and that the parties shall proceed with the appraisal process. Insofar as State Farm objects to plaintiff's choice of appraiser, that objection is OVERRULED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the motion to compel is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE in all other respects. Insofar as plaintiff seeks the appointment of an umpire, that request is premature because the two appraisers have not yet had an opportunity to select one.
See R. Doc. No. 12-2, at 2. State Farm has selected its appraiser. See R. Doc. No. 12, at 7.
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New Orleans, Louisiana, May 13, 2014.
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LANCE M. AFRICK
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE