Opinion ID: 1796802
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: further discovery

Text: I agree with one portion of the plurality's opinion. There is no need for any further discovery in this case. The question of the legality and legitimacy of the total of payments method of computing the amount of credit life insurance was conclusively settled by the affidavits of Mr. Floyd and Mr. Dyer and the C.S. Blackledge memorandum. That was a legal question requiring no cross-examination. The policy of the Banking and Insurance Departments has been consistent since 1981 and before. A 1986 case involving the identical allegations was decided by Judge Cherner based upon the affidavit of Mr. Floyd. The plaintiff can show nothing, and there is nothing that can be brought out upon cross-examination of Floyd and Dyer, that would assist the plaintiff's search for facts helpful to her case. The facts as alleged by the plaintiff are the facts assumed by Dyer and Floyd in preparing their affidavits. Their affidavits were not fact affidavits; they were statements of policy of the two departments that they represent. When asked how further discovery would change the interpretations of the statute and the regulation by the two state departments responsible, counsel for the plaintiff simply claimed that the agencies'application of the law to the facts was ludicrous. There is no need to send this case back for further discovery. The trial judge properly entered a summary judgment for the defendant. We should affirm that summary judgment. Alternatively, and at a minimum, this Court should state that its interpretation of § 5-19-20 is prospective only and has no effect on any business that has been operating with the understanding that this practice was legitimate and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the state agencies charged with enforcing that statute. Therefore, I must concur with the plurality opinion in regard to McCullar's claim for further discovery, but I heartily dissent from the plurality opinion's holding as fraud the total of payments method of computing credit life insurance.