PACIFIC EMPLOYERS INSURANCE COMPANY OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, APPELLANT,
v.
ROBERT OTT, DON BURNSIDE, AND BURNSIDE-OTT AVIATION TRAINING CENTER, APPELLEES

Fla. 3d DCA | 1989-06-20
No. 88-2460
Before NESBITT, JORGENSON and LEVY, JJ.
545 So. 2d 462 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1989) Positive Treatment
Cited by 7 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

A legal malpractice liability insurer appeals a summary judgment that granted coverage of up to $300,000 for three separate negligence claims against an insured attorney. The court reversed and remanded, holding that the policy unambiguously limits coverage to $100,000 when multiple claims arise from a single act or omission, but the factual record must be clarified to determine whether the attorney's conduct constituted one or multiple acts of negligence.


Holding

The policy unambiguously limits coverage to $100,000 when multiple claims arise from a single act or omission or related series of acts. However, the case must be remanded to determine as a factual matter whether the attorney committed one act or three separate acts of negligence. Additionally, the statutory notice requirement does not apply because the insurer never denied coverage but only asserted a contractual limitation.


Headnotes

[1] Multiple claims or suits arising out of a single act or omission or a related series of acts or omissions are treated as one claim under an insurance policy, limiting cov…

[2] An insurance policy's definition of "claim" is not ambiguous when it clearly states that multiple claims arising from a single act or omission are treated as one claim.

Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Key Quotes

“the policy unambiguously provides that multiple claims or suits arising out of a single act of omission or related series of acts or omissions are to be treated as one claim providing a coverage limit of $100,000”

Establishes the court's holding that the policy language is clear and not ambiguous regarding aggregation of related claims

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

An attorney's clients (Burnside-Ott Aviation Training Center, Don Burnside, and Robert Ott) each filed separate lawsuits against their attorney for ne…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
NESBITT, Judge.

NESBITT, Judge.

In this action for declaratory relief, a legal malpractice liability insurer appeals from a summary judgment determining the extent of coverage available to the insured attorney. We reverse.

Burnside-Ott Aviation Training Center, Don Burnside, and Robert Ott separately notified their attorney that they expected to be indemnified for his negligent handling of the sale of a helicopter which resulted in their liability to another party. Soon thereafter, the attorney notified his legal malpractice liability insurer of the claims. The attorney’s policy stated that he was covered for $100,000 on each claim made, up to an aggregate limit of $300,000 per year. However, the policy further stated that two or more claims arising out of a single act or omission or related series of acts or omissions would be treated as one claim.

After notifying the attorney of their claims, the attorney’s clients individually filed suit against him asserting identical causes of action for negligence. Each lawsuit sought damages in excess of $100,000. The attorney notified his insurer of the claims; some time later, the insurer gave written notice that coverage was limited to $100,000 for all three claims combined. The insurer later filed a declaratory judgment action seeking a decision to that effect. Burnside, Ott, and the training center filed a counterclaim alleging that coverage extended to $300,000. Cross-motions for summary judgment on these allegations were heard. The insurer’s motion was denied; the appellees’ motion was granted.

In this appeal, the insurer asserts two grounds which it alleges require reversal of the summary judgment. It first avers that the trial court erred in finding that because the policy’s definition of the term “claim” was patently ambiguous, the policy should be construed to provide coverage to the policy limit of $300,000 for the three claims combined. The insurer contends, and we agree, that the policy unambiguously provides that multiple claims or suits arising out of a single act of omission or related series of acts or omissions are to be treated as one claim providing a coverage limit of $100,000. See Midwest Mut. Ins. Co. v. Santiesteban, 287 So. 2d 665 (Fla.1973); Southeastern Fire Ins. Co. v. Lehrman, 443 So. 2d 408 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984); Connecticut Gen. Life Ins. Co. v. Moore, 357 So. 2d 475 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978). The insurer contends that because the multiple claims involved here arose out of a single act or omission of the insured attorney, the coverage would be limited to $100,-000.

However, the record on appeal does not demonstrate whether the attorney committed one act or three acts of professional negligence. If the clients base their individual claims on a single act of professional negligence, then the attorney’s insurance coverage would be limited to $100,000; if, on the other hand, there were three separate, unrelated acts of negligence, then the limit would increase to $300,000. See Pioneer Nat’l Title Ins. Co. v. Andrews, 652 F. 2d 439 (5th Cir.1981). Accordingly, the ease must be remanded to the trial court for this factual determination.

The second alleged ground for reversal is that the trial court erred in holding that the insurer was precluded from asserting the $100,000 limitation of coverage due to its alleged failure to comply with section 627.426, Florida Statutes (1987), which requires that the insurer notify the insured within thirty days of a claim for coverage if the insurer intends to deny coverage. Appellant contends, and we agree, that the statute is inapplicable here. The statute applies only when the insurer totally denies coverage. Cf. AIU Ins. Co. v. Block Marina Inv., Inc., 544 So. 2d 998 (Fla.1989); United States Fidelity & Guar. Co. v. American Fire & Indem. Co., 511 So. 2d 624 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987). The insurer here never sought to deny coverage. Instead, it simply asserted that its contractual responsibility to indemnify the insured for his negligence was limited to $100,000.

Accordingly, we reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • …pressly excluded or otherwise unavailable under the policy or under existing law. Relying upon AIU, the third district determined, “The statute applies only when the insurer totally denies coverage.” Pacific Employers Ins. Co. of L.A., Cal. v. Ott, 545 So. 2d 462, 463 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1989). The court concluded that where the insurer does not deny coverage but simply asserts that liability is limited, the statute does not apply. Id. at 464. Pursuant to AIU and Pacific Employers, the statute does not apply in th…
  • Cont'l Cas. Co. v. Wendt, 205 F.3d 1258 (11th Cir. 2000)
    …IT IS SO ORDERED. DONE and ORDERED in Ocala, Florida, this 28th day of June, 1999. . Two Florida cases have interpreted the term "related”; however, neither of them ruled that the term was necessarily ambiguous. In Pacific Employers Ins. v. Ott, 545 So. 2d 462 (Fla.App. 3 Dist.1989), the Third District Court of Appeal of Florida held that an insurance policy which provided that multiple claims or suits arising out of single act of omission or related series of acts or omissions are to be treated as one cl…
  • …Pittsburg, Pa. v. Goldman, 548 So. 2d 790, 792 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989) (policy excluded coverage for acts of deliberate dishonesty, on which acts the claim was based, and accordingly the CAS did not apply); Pac. Emp’rs Ins. Co. of Los Angeles, CA v. Ott, 545 So. 2d 462, 463-64 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989) (insistence by insurer on enforcement of policy limits was not a coverage defense subject to the CAS); U. S. Aviation Underwriters, Inc. v. Sunray Airline, Inc., 543 So. 2d 1309, (Fla. 5th DCA 1989) (express policy exclusi…

Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw