In Colony Insurance Co. v. Nicholson, Download Colony Insurance Co. v. Nicholson (S.D. Fla. Case No. 10.60042.CIV, Order Filed July 19, 2010)FREE ACCESS also published as 2010 WL 2844802 (S.D. Fla. July 19, 2010)(Westlaw subscription required to access Westlaw), the Federal Court issued an Order reflecting holdings that were entirely predictable under Federal and Florida Law. The Nicholson Case was filed in Federal Court by Colony Insurance Company. Colony requested a Declaratory Judgment of no Duty to Defend and no Duty to Indemnify its Insureds (who were two of the Defendants in its Federal Court Action, along with the Plaintiff in the underlying case) in a pending State Court Lawsuit.
First, the Federal Court held in this Declaratory Judgment Action that there is a Duty to Defend the Insured in the pending State Court Case. Nicholson, 2010 WL 2844802 at *3.
Then, for the reason that the State Court Lawsuit is pending, the Federal Court refused to issue a Declaratory Judgment on the other issue presented to it, which was whether there is a Duty to Indemnify for any settlement or Judgment in the State Court Case. Declaratory Relief on that issue would certainly be premature. Since Florida Law always determines a Liability Insurer's Duty to Indemnify based on the actual facts rather than on merely the allegations which determine a Duty to Defend, the Federal Court held that the DJA was not ripe for Declaratory Relief on that issue. Id. at *3.
Accordingly, the Federal Judge granted the Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (which was originally filed as a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings and was "converted" by the Federal Court into a Motion for Summary Judgment).
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