Source: https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/141-f-3d-314-596607226
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 14:19:57+00:00

Document:
141 F.3d 314 (7th Cir. 1998), 97-1328, Indiana Gas Co., Inc. v. Home Ins. Co.
Party Name: INDIANA GAS COMPANY, INC., et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. HOME INSURANCE COMPANY, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
HOME INSURANCE COMPANY, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
Opinion Denying Rehearing May 13, 1998.
Edward P. Henneberry, Mark Levy (argued), Howry & Simon, Washington, DC, for Indiana Gas Co., Inc., Richmond Gas Corp. and Terre Haute Gas Corp.
Roger E. Warin, Harry Lee (argued), Steptoe & Johnson, Washington, DC, for Home Ins. Co.
Thomas J. Quinn, Stephen T. Roberts (argued), Mendes & Mount, LLP, New York City, James E. Rocap, Jr., Kandi Kilkelly Hidde, Rocap, Witchger & Threlkeld, Indianapolis, IN, for Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's London and Certain London Market Ins Companies.
James S. Stickles, Jr., Johnson & Bell, Chicago, IL, for Ranger Ins. Co.
Mary K. Reeder, Riley Bennett & Egloff, Indianapolis, IN, Sonia S. Waisman (argued), Kathy Pisula Waring, Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps, San Diego, CA, for St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co.
Before POSNER, Chief Judge, and EASTERBROOK and EVANS, Circuit Judges.
Long ago, predecessors to Indiana Gas Company manufactured gas by heating coal and oil at nine sites in Indiana. The principal residual was coal tar, a sludge containing pitch plus pyridine and additional organic compounds that are raw materials for the production of paints, dyes, plastics, pharmaceuticals, and other synthetic products. Some coal tar was discarded before these beneficial uses were discovered, additional byproducts of gas manufacturing were not suitable feedstocks for other industries, and at all events production often exceeded the demand. What could not be sold or given away was placed in containment structures of various kinds, from which it has begun to leak. At two sites (and perhaps others) residuals were placed in holder pits and used as fill to level off the ground. Coal tar has some dangerous constituents, so Indiana Gas faces cleanup costs, for which it sought indemnity from its insurers. When the insurers refused, Indiana Gas and affiliated companies (collectively "Indiana Gas") initiated this comprehensive action against many of the firms that issued policies over the course of the last century, seeking a declaratory judgment that would require them to cover the cleanup costs and liability to third parties that Indiana Gas foresees. In order to resolve the suit the district court addressed many issues, such as whether the coal tar's escape was inevitable or may be characterized as an "accident" covered by the policies, and if so whether the pollution exclusions in many of the policies negate indemnity. After 11 published opinions terminated most claims in defendants' favor, 946 F.Supp. 627; 946 F.Supp. 639, 951 F.Supp. 759; 951 F.Supp. 820, settlements were reached on the rest, and Indiana Gas has appealed.
"complete diversity" that under Strawbridge v. Curtiss, 7 U.S. (3 Cranch) 267, 2 L.Ed. 435 (1806), is essential. Plaintiffs are incorporated and have their principal places of business in Indiana, so the suit is untenable if any defendant must be treated as a citizen of Indiana. The complaint named among the defendants "Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's, London" and "Certain London Market Insurance Companies." Which underwriters and companies are the "certain" underwriters and companies? What kinds of entities are they, and what rules govern ascertainment of their citizenships? The complaint does not say, and the district judge did not require Indiana Gas to be more specific. The London Market Insurers inform us that all but five of the "companies" are corporations organized under the law of the United Kingdom, with principal places of business there, and that none of the five domestic corporations is incorporated or has a principal place of business in Indiana. But what is the citizenship of the "underwriters"? A syndicate that underwrites insurance through the exchange at Lloyd's can have hundreds of members (known as "names"), located throughout the world, and any given policy is underwritten by multiple syndicates. Indiana Gas's brief asserts: "Defendants Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's, London and Certain London Market Insurers ("London") are various corporations and syndicates, none of which is incorporated or maintains its principal place of business in Indiana." This treats each syndicate as an entity with a single citizenship taken from its principal place of business. The London Market Insurers' brief, by contrast, treats the syndicates as unincorporated associations: "Underwriters at Lloyd's, London, defendants below, are natural persons and sole traders, subscribing to policies of insurance each for his or her own part and not one for the other. They are members of various syndicates which are located in and have their principal place of business in London, England." On this view the right parties are not the syndicates but either (a) the persons who subscribed to the policies on behalf of the syndicates, or (b) all of the names.
Every name in a syndicate faces unlimited personal liability, like a partner in a general partnership. Syndicates are run, however, much like limited partnerships, with a lead member (the "active underwriter" or "managing agent") able to transact business without consulting the investors. Descriptions of the London insurance market and the organization of underwriting syndicates at Lloyd's may be found in Daly v. Lime Street Underwriting Agencies Ltd.,  2 FTLR 277 (Q.B.); John Hayter Underwriting Agency Ltd. v. R.B.H.S. Agencies,  2 Lloyd's Rep. 105 (C.A.1976); and Edinburgh Assurance Co. v. R.L. Burns Corp., 479 F.Supp. 138, 145-46 (C.D.Cal.1979), affirmed (with an immaterial exception), 669 F.2d 1259 (9th Cir.1982).
108 F. 963 (2nd Cir. 1901), 127, Sproull v. Pratt & Whitney Co.

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