Opinion ID: 3158528
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Continental’s Lost Policy

Text: Under Oklahoma law and the Federal Rules of Evidence, when originals are lost or destroyed, a duplicate or other evidence of the contents of a contract are admissible. Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 3004 (2015); Fed. R. Evid. 1004. In a case of a lost insurance policy, Oklahoma directs that the beneficiary has “the burden of establishing by a preponderance of the evidence the existence of the insurance -15- contract.” State Mut. Life Assurance Co. of Am. v. Hampton, 696 P.2d 1027, 1034 (Okla. 1985). Typically, “[t]o sustain its burden in a ‘lost policy’ case, an insured must present secondary evidence establishing both the issuance and terms of the policy[.]” Century Indem. Co. v. Aero-Motive Co., 254 F. Supp. 2d 670, 680 (W.D. Mich. 2003). Regarding expert testimony, we review de novo “whether the district court employed the proper legal standard and performed its gatekeeper role,” and we review for an abuse of discretion the manner in which the district court performs this gatekeeping role. See United States v. Rodriguez-Felix, 450 F.3d 1117, 1122 (10th Cir. 2006). A trial court has broad discretion in “deciding how to assess an expert’s reliability . . . as well as in making the ultimate determination of reliability.” Goebel v. Denver & Rio Grande W. R.R. Co., 346 F.3d 987, 990 (10th Cir. 2003) (citing Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137, 152 (1999)). “Accordingly, we will not disturb the district court’s ruling unless it is ‘arbitrary, capricious, whimsical or manifestly unreasonable[.]’” Id. (quoting Dodge v. Cotter Corp., 328 F.3d 1212, 1223 (10th Cir. 2003)). The district court held that Montello lacked sufficient evidence to establish the terms of a lost policy. Montello argues that the district court erred because it provided two independent grounds, each demonstrating by a preponderance of the evidence, the terms of the lost policy. First, Montello sought to establish the terms and conditions of the lost -16- policies through an expert, Robert Hughes. The district court granted a motion to strike holding that his “methodology in determining the terms and conditions of the alleged policies is not based on facts which would enable him to express a reasonably accurate conclusion as required by Daubert and its progeny.” Canal Ins. Co., 2012 WL 4891699, at . This holding was based on numerous factors: Mr. Hughes’ concession that the information provided could not be used to identify the wording of a particular form policy; his failure to review a Continental umbrella policy actually issued in Oklahoma; his admission that the form used could have been form E, form D, or some other form; his change in position as to which form was likely the form used; and his admission that the missing policies could have been modified with any number of other, unknown endorsements that could add or limit coverage. Id. at –10. Second, Montello argues Continental’s submission of its form policies to the Oklahoma Board of Insurance Commissioners and the Board’s approval of those policies establishes the terms of the policies by a preponderance of the evidence. This argument, however, is problematic for Montello because evidence that one form was submitted by Continental does not foreclose the possibility of other submissions. Absent evidence that only one form was submitted and approved during the relevant period, the terms of the lost form remain unclear. Furthermore, Montello’s own expert, Mr. Hughes, stated in his report that there was more than one umbrella policy in use by Continental during the relevant -17- period. III Aplt. App. 503. Montello cites to a variety of cases where submission of a form policy to a state board was sufficient evidence of the terms of a contract. Each case, however, demonstrated only one version of the contract was in use during the time period when the lost policy was issued. See, e.g., Burt Rigid Box, Inc. v. Travelers Prop. Cas. Corp., 302 F.3d 83, 92-93 (2d Cir. 2002); Servants of Paraclete, Inc. v. Great Am. Ins. Co., 857 F. Supp. 822, 828-29 (D.N.M. 1994). Montello has failed to provide sufficient information on which a reasonable jury could find the terms of the lost policy by a preponderance of the evidence and therefore, we affirm the district court.