DUAL REINSURANCE LAWSUITS ALLOWED TO CONTINUE CONCURRENTLY IN DIFFERENT DISTRICTS
As previously reported, Utica Mutual Insurance Company was successful in seeking transfer of its dispute against two reinsurers from the Southern District of New York to the Northern District of New York. The insurance company has again succeeded, defeating a motion to dismiss, and alternatively a motion to stay the proceeding in the Northern District of New York in favor of a suit initiated by one of the reinsurers against Utica in Wisconsin. Rejecting defendants’ contention that the “first-file rule” requires a stay of the New York lawsuit, the court determined that the New York suit can proceed along side the Wisconsin dispute because: a) the New York suit involves an additional defendant not present in the Wisconsin proceeding, b) the New York suit involves an additional claim under the Federal Arbitration Act, and c) Utica asserts it is not amenable to personal jurisdiction in Wisconsin. Utica Mutual Insurance Co. v. Employers Insurance Co. of Wausau, Case No. 6:12-CV-1293 (N.D.N.Y. Sept. 26, 2013).
This post written by Abigail Kortz.
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