Ivy

Plaintiff, Earl L. Ivy, brought this action against the Pacific Automobile Insurance Company, its attorney Harold H. Cohn, and its adjuster, Stuart Dodge, for damages, actual and punitive, and to compel the defendants to satisfy a judgment secured against plaintiff by one James M. Smith. The cause of action for damages was subsequently dismissed. The trial court denied any relief to the plaintiff and he appeals.

The controversy arises out of an automobile accident in which James M. Smith was seriously injured when hit by a truck driven by one Sawatzke. Smith brought an action against Sawatzke, Ivy and others and secured a stipulated $75,000 personal judgment against the defendants, including Ivy. In that action the Pacific Automobile Insurance Company, through its attorney Cohn, undertook the defense of all of the defendants. In the instant case it is the basic contention of Ivy that the personal judgment for $75,000 secured against him by Smith resulted solely from stipulations made by Cohn which were contrary to law and the facts, made without Ivy’s knowledge or authority, and which were made in bad faith in order financially to benefit the insurance company.

The facts are as…