Court Opinion

ID: 9600639
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 01:29:08.466424+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:11:08.645105
License: Public Domain

RYMER, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I agree that Riordan did not need to plead attorney’s fees in order to seek them, but disagree that we should decide whether Montana’s insurance exception to the American Rule extends to disputes over value of an UIM claim. I would certify this question.
Neither in Mountain W. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Brewer, 315 Mont. 231, 69 P.3d 652 (2003), nor elsewhere has the Montana Supreme Court addressed whether the insurance exception extends beyond *1010the duty to indemnify, to cover claims and disputes over UIM benefits of the sort presented here. Montana courts disagree about whether Brewer extends to this context. See Burkett v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., No. DDV-05-076, Mont. 8th Jud. Dist. Ct., Cascade County (May 23, 2007) (awarding attorney’s fees under Brewer where the plaintiff sought UIM benefits under a contract because “this is a first-party insurance action that [the plaintiff] was required to prosecute in order to obtain the benefit of her contract.”); Rand v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., No. DV-03-312, Mont. 18th Jud. Dist. Ct., Gallatin County (Mar. 4, 2005) (denying award of attorney’s fees under Brewer where plaintiff had brought an action for UIM benefits under his contract because Brewer concerned the duty to indemnify, which did not involve UIM benefits). UIM coverage does not fit either recognized exception, where the duty to defend, or the duty to indemnify, is at issue.
It makes sense to give the Montana Supreme Court the first shot at the question. Montana trial courts see Brewer differently, the issue of attorney’s fees in insurance disputes is obviously important, and insurance is quintessentially a matter of state law. To do otherwise also raises the spectre of forum shopping. Accordingly, I would certify the question whether Montana’s insurance exception to the American Rule extends to first-party claims for underinsured motorist coverage where the dispute is over value of the claim.