Sergio Construction, Inc. v. Northbrook Property & Casualty Insurance

MEMORANDUM *

Sergio Construction Inc. (SCI) appeals the district court’s denial of its Rule 56(f) motion and grant of summary judgment in favor of Northbrook Property and Casualty Company and others (collectively Insurers) in SCI’s diversity action alleging breach of contract and other claims arising from a contract between SCI and the West Valley Mission Community College Dis *762 trict (Mission) to build a gym on the District’s campus. We affirm.

(1) SCI, in effect, claims that because its suit against Mission and Mission’s counterclaim were mirror images of one another, the Insurers were obligated to expend more effort than they did. However it is clear that when an insurance contract obligates the insurer to defend any suit seeking specified damages covered under the policy, the contract does “not obligate [the insurers] to prosecute [the insured’s] claims against [the other party], because neither the prosecution of the plaintiffs prima facie case nor the defeat of [the other party’s] defenses thereto could be considered the defense of a suit seeking damages.” 3250 Wilshire Boulevard Bldg. v. Employers Ins. of Wausau, 39 Cal.App.4th 1277, 1280 , 46 Cal.Rptr.2d 399, 400…