Welcome back to the Washington State federal court. For those who regularly read this blog you will remember the case where the court granted a motion to compel arbitration against one reinsurer and not the other. That arbitration concluded, which allowed the litigation to continue against the remaining reinsurer. The cedent moved to amend the complaint and the reinsurer move for judgment on the pleadings.
In Washington Schools Risk Management Pool v. American Re-Insurance Co., No. 21-CV-00874-LK (W.D. Wash. Aug. 8, 2023), a school risk pool sought coverage from its reinsurer for settlement of sexual abuse claims. After one reinsurer’s motion to compel arbitration was granted, the matter was stayed. Following the conclusion of the arbitration, the risk pool moved to amend the complaint and the reinsurer opposed and moved for judgment on the pleadings.
The court granted the motion to amend the complaint and denied the reinsurer’s motion as moot as it only addressed the existing complaint.
In granting the motion, the court went through a detailed analysis of the rules for amending a complaint and found that all criteria was in favor of the amendment except for one element (undue delay), but the because the balance was in favor the motion was granted. The court noted that prejudice was the most compelling factor. Here, the court found that the reinsurer was not prejudiced by the amendment and, in fact, did not present any arguments for the prejudice factor.
Notably, the court did not rule out another motion by the reinsurer after the amended complaint (here the second amended complaint) is filed so stay tuned.
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Published by Larry P. Schiffer, Schiffer Law & Consulting PLLC
After 38-years with boutique and global law firms, Larry P. Schiffer launched an independent legal and consulting practice, Schiffer Law & Consulting PLLC, where he provides services as a lawyer, counselor, consultant, mediator, arbitrator and expert witness. He practices commercial, insurance, and reinsurance litigation, arbitration, and mediation. He provides advice on a wide variety of insurance and reinsurance issues, including claims and disputes, policy wording analysis and drafting, insurance insolvency issues, due diligence for transactions and have insurance or reinsurance components, insurance and reinsurance education and other advice. He is available to appear for clients outside of NY at mediations and conferences as needed on a per diem basis. He is active in legal and trade associations where he has held various leadership positions. He has lectured and has been widely published on reinsurance and other insurance topics. He serves as an Expert Commentator on reinsurance for IRMI.com and co-authored the chapter on reinsurance in the New York State Bar Association’s Insurance Law Practice treatise. He is the editor of the ARIAS•U.S. Quarterly. Mr. Schiffer received his J.D. from Albany Law School, where he graduated cum laude, was a member of the Albany Law Review and a member of the Justinian Society, and received his B.A. magna cum laude from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. He was admitted to practice in New York in 1980.
View all posts by Larry P. Schiffer, Schiffer Law & Consulting PLLC
