Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO. H-16-1401
03-20-2018
ORION PROJECT SERVICES (HOUSTON) LLC and ORION ENGINEERING SERVICES LTD., Plaintiffs, v. ACE AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY and THE HAYS GROUP, INC., Defendants.
ORDER ADOPTING MAGISTRATE JUDGE'S MEMORANDUM , RECOMMENDATION, AND ORDER
Having reviewed the Magistrate Judge's Memorandum, Recommendation, and Order (Docket Entry No. 88) dated February 21, 2018, and Plaintiffs' Objection to Portion of Memorandum, Recommendation, and Order Relating Solely to the War Coverage Endorsement (Docket Entry No. 89), the court concludes that the Memorandum, Recommendation, and Order should be adopted by this court.
The court OVERRULES Plaintiffs' objection to a passage in the Magistrate Judge's Memorandum, Recommendation, and Order relating to the War Coverage Endorsement. Plaintiffs stated in their amended complaint that the underlying lawsuit did not "make any allegations of 'war.'" Plaintiffs' response referred to the War Coverage Endorsement as irrelevant, stating:
First Amended Complaint, Docket Entry No. 17, p. 12.
Because Hays asks for summary judgment on all of Orion's claims, what matters here are the claims in Orion's Complaint. Orion alleged that Hays breached its duties to Orion if ACE was not required to defend and/or indemnify Orion in the Santiago Lawsuit for any reason. Doc. No. 17 ("Amended Complaint"), ¶¶ 7, 107-114. This Court held that the Policy's coverage territory encompassed areas that include Algeria, so that issue is now irrelevant. See Doc. No. 42 (the "Duty to Defend Order") at 2.The court therefore concludes that Plaintiffs have waived any reliance on the War Coverage Endorsement.
Plaintiffs' Response to The Hays Group, Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment, Docket Entry No. 75, p. 18. --------
It is therefore ORDERED that the Memorandum and Recommendation is hereby ADOPTED by this court.
SIGNED at Houston, Texas, on this the 20th day of March, 2018.
/s/_________
SIM LAKE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE