Court Opinion

ID: 9490889
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 13:57:49.683443+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:54:22.732034
License: Public Domain

BRIGHT, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I dissent.
It is clear from all of the documents4 filed in this case that Bryce Hepper did not intend *1097a general release of liability. When Hepper settled his case against the insurance company that provided coverage for the vehicle in the accident, he unwittingly executed a general release of liability. Hepper’s counsel may not have been aware of this problem. Adams County seeks and has been given the benefit of the general release form. It has received an unintended benefit without payment of consideration.
This case is an extraordinary one that may call for equitable relief., I, therefore, would remand this case to the district court to permit Hepper to amend his complaint in order to seek reformation of the release agreement to show the true intent of the parties.

. For example, the agreement among the three injured parties to divide the accident vehicle's insurance proceeds clearly shows that the parties had not received anything close to full compensation for their injuries. The vehicle in the accident had minimal insurance coverage, providing $25,000 of coverage per person with a $50,000 maximum limit per occurrence. At the time of the agreement, the three individuals, Hepper, Rhett Peterson, and David Knutson had incurred medical costs of $16,083.78, $41,246.07, and $15,552.26, respectively. The $50,000 was prorated among the claimants based on their respective medical expenses. Since Peterson’s medical costs were over 50% of the total costs incurred by all three parties, Peterson received the maximum under the policy of $25,000 per person. Hepper’s costs in relation to Knutson’s costs *1097represented 50.84% of the remaining $25,000 in coverage. Therefore, Hepper received only $12,-710.