Murphy v. Allstate Insurance

Defendant Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate or defendant) was granted summary judgment. Plaintiffs John and Maude Murphy (plaintiffs) appeal.

Plaintiffs filed no declarations in opposition to defendant’s motion for summary judgment. However, defendant’s motion was based on a number of declarations, several of which referred to and incorporated other documents, including plaintiffs’ answers to interrogatories and a 24-page handwritten letter by Mr. Murphy to an Allstate representative setting forth in great detail many of the facts on which plaintiffs’ claims against Allstate are based.

It is fundamental that the party moving for summary judgment has the burden of showing by declarations or affidavits setting forth facts admissible as evidence in a trial that the claims or defenses of the adverse party are entirely without merit on any legal theory and that if the moving party’s showing is insufficient, the adverse party is not required to demonstrate the validity of his claims or defenses or even to file counterdeclarations or counteraffidavits. (Code Civ. Proc., § 437c; Rowland v. Christian, 69 Cal.2d 108, 111 [ 70 Cal.Rptr. 97 , 443 P.2d 561 , 32 A.L.R.3d 496 ];…