Stanford Law School - Robert Crown Law Library

Filed 12/19/07

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA
REAGAN WILSON,
S141790
Plaintiff and Appellant,
Ct.App. 2/7 B180323
v.
Los Angeles County
21ST CENTURY INSURANCE
Super. Ct. No. BC301588
COMPANY, )

)
Defendant and Respondent.
)

MODIFICATION OF OPINION
THE COURT:
The court’s opinion filed November 29, 2007, is modified as follows:
Footnote 7 on page 12 of the filed opinion is modified to read:
In this connection, we find potentially misleading the
statements in some decisions to the effect that under the
genuine dispute rule bad faith cannot be established where
the insurer’s withholding of benefits “is reasonable or is
based on a legitimate dispute as to the insurer’s liability.”
(Century Surety Co. v. Polisso (2006) 139 Cal.App.4th
922, 949, italics added; see also Chateau Chamberay
Homeowners Assn. v. Associated Internat. Ins. Co., supra,
90 Cal.App.4th at p. 346 [“ ‘if reasonable or if based on a
legitimate dispute’ ”]; Tomaselli v. Transamerica Ins. Co.
(1994) 25 Cal.App.4th 1269, 1281 [same].) In the
insurance bad faith context, a dispute is not “legitimate”
unless it is founded on a basis that is reasonable under all
the circumstances.
This modification eliminates a reference to Delgado v. Interinsurance
Exchange of the Automobile Club (2007) 152 Cal.App.4th 671, a decision of
which this court has granted review, and does not affect the judgment.
This modification does not effect a change in the judgment.

---

Petition for review after the Court of Appeal reversed the judgment in a civil action. This case includes the following issue: Does an insurer act in bad faith if it resolves an underinsured motorist bodily injury claim on the basis of the insured's medical records without consulting the insured's treating physician or having the insured examined by a doctor of the insurer's own choice?

Opinion Information

Date:	Citation:	Docket Number:	Category:	Status:
Wed, 12/19/2007	42 Cal.4th 713 original opinion 42 Cal.4th 806a modification	S141790M	Review - Civil Appeal	closed; remittitur issued

Disposition
Nov 29 2007	Opinion: Affirmed

Dockets
Mar 13 2006	Petition for review filed   21st Century Insurance Company, Defendant and Respondent by Bradley S. Pauley of Horvitz & Levy, LLP, and N. David Lyons of Lewis Brisbois et al, retained counsel.
Mar 13 2006	Record requested
Mar 14 2006	Received Court of Appeal record
Mar 17 2006	Request for depublication (petition for review pending)   State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, non party James Robie, retained.
Mar 24 2006	Request for depublication filed (another request pending)   Farmers Insurance Exchange, et al. (non-party)
Apr 26 2006	Petition for review granted (civil case)   Votes: George, C.J., Kennard, Baxter, Werdegar, Chin, Moreno, and Corrigan, JJ.
May 2 2006	Request for extension of time filed   Counsel for respondents requests extension of time to 7-10-06 to file the opening brief on the merits.
May 4 2006	Extension of time granted   Respondent's time to serve and file the opening brief on the merits is extended to and including July 10, 2006. No further extensions are contemplated.
May 5 2006	Certification of interested entities or persons filed   21st Century Insurance, Defendant and Respondent by Barry R. Levy, counsel
May 10 2006	Certification of interested entities or persons filed   Reagan Wilson as respondent by: Donald Robert Hall of Hall & Bailey
Jul 10 2006	Opening brief on the merits filed   counsel for deft. and resp. (21st Century Ins. Co.)
Aug 8 2006	Answer brief on the merits filed   counsel for aplt (Wilson)
Aug 11 2006	Request for extension of time filed   Counsel for respondent requests extension of time to 9-12-06, to file the reply brief on the merits.
Aug 16 2006	Extension of time granted   Respondent's time to serve and file the reply brief is extended to and including September 12, 2006.
Sep 12 2006	Reply brief filed (case fully briefed)   counesl for resp. 21st Century Ins. Co.
Oct 12 2006	Received application to file Amicus Curiae Brief   Amici State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co., United Services Automobile Associ., Infinity Insurance Co., Farmeres Ins., Exchange, Fire Ins. Exchange, Truck Ins. Exchange Mid-Century Insurance Company [app/brf under same covers in support of respondent 21st Century]
Oct 18 2006	Received:   from Amici State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co., Untied Services Automobile Associ., etc. errata to application for a.c. brief submitted earlier on the 10-12-06.
Oct 20 2006	Permission to file amicus curiae brief granted   State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co., et al. in support of respondent
Oct 20 2006	Amicus curiae brief filed   State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co,. et al., in support of respondent. An answer thereto may be served and filed by any party within twenty days of the filing of the brief.
Aug 8 2007	Case ordered on calendar   to be argued on Wednesday, September 5, 2007, at 1:30 p.m., in San Francisco
Aug 17 2007	Association of attorneys filed for:   appellant Wilson, counsel Hall and Bailey associating as co-counsel Jeffrey Isaac Ehrlich of the Ehrlich Law Firm.
Aug 17 2007	Application filed to:   divide oral argument, by counsel for appellant Wilson, requesting 20 minutes for associated counsel Ehrlich, and 10 minutes for ongoing counsel Hall.
Aug 21 2007	Order filed   The request of counsel for appellant in the above-referenced cause to allow two counsel to argue on behalf of appellant at oral argument is hereby granted. The request of appellant to allocate to counsel Jeffrey Isaac Ehrlich 20 minutes and counsel Donald R. Hall 10 minutes of appellant's 30-minute allotted time for oral argument is granted.
Aug 23 2007	Filed:   counsel for plf. and resp. (Reagan Wilson) Notice of filing of Additional Authorities, Oral Arg. 9-5-2007
Aug 27 2007	Supplemental brief filed   counsel for deft. and resp. 21st Century Ins. Co.
Aug 27 2007	Motion filed (non-AA)   counsel for deft. and resp. 21st Century Ins. Co., to strike Notice of Additional Authorities
Aug 28 2007	Application filed to:   divide oral argument, by counsel for respondent 21st Century Insurance Company requesting to share 10 minutes of time with amici curiae State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company et al.
Aug 29 2007	Motion denied   Defendant's motion to strike plaintiff's supplemental brief presenting additional authorities is denied. Defendant's request for permission to file an additional reply brief is also denied. Corrigan, J., was recused and did not participate.
Aug 29 2007	Order filed   The request of counsel for respondent 21st Century Insurance Company in the above-referenced cause to allow two counsel to argue on behalf of respondent at oral argument is hereby granted. The request of respondent to allocate to amici curiae State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company et al. 10 minutes of respondent's 30-minute allotted time for oral argument is granted.
Sep 5 2007	Cause argued and submitted
Nov 28 2007	Notice of forthcoming opinion posted
Nov 29 2007	Opinion filed: Judgment affirmed in full   OPINION BY: Werdegar, J. ---- joined by: George, C.J., Kennard, Moreno, Kline, JJ. (assigned pro tem, by the Chief Justice) DISSENTING OPINION BY: Chin, J. --- joined by : Baxter, J.
Dec 6 2007	Received:   counsel fo resp. (21st Century Ins. Co.) Letter re: Opinion issued on 11-29-07.
Dec 19 2007	Opinion modified - no change in judgment
Dec 19 2007	Order filed   The request for modification of the opinion is granted.
Jan 7 2008	Remittitur issued (civil case)
Aug 20 2008	Received:
Sep 17 2008	Received:

Briefs
Jul 10 2006	Opening brief on the merits filed
Aug 8 2006	Answer brief on the merits filed
Sep 12 2006	Reply brief filed (case fully briefed)
Oct 20 2006	Amicus curiae brief filed

If you'd like to submit a brief document to be included for this opinion, please submit an e-mail to the SCOCAL website