Property i.d. Corporation v. Greenwich Insurance Company

MEMORANDUM

Property I.D. Corporation and Carlos Siderman (the “PID parties”) appeal the district court’s decision granting summary judgment in favor of Greenwich Insurance Company. The PID parties challenge the district court’s holding that Greenwich did not owe a duty to defend and indemnify the NDA Action. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

We review a district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo. HS Servs., Inc. v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., 109 F.3d 642, 644 (9th Cir.1997). “The meaning and interpretation of an insurance contract is a question of law reviewed de novo.” Id. “The insurer bears the burden of bringing itself within a policy’s exclusionary clauses” and exclusions are “strictly construed.” Id. at 644-45 .

Pursuant to the prior and/or pending litigation exclusion in the Greenwich policy the PID parties were not entitled to defense and indemnity of the NDA Action. See ML Direct, Inc. v. TIG Specialty Ins. Co., 79 Cal.App.4th 137 , 93 Cal. Rptr.2d 846, 853 (Cal.Ct.App.2000). The Employment Cross-Complaint was a civil proceeding filed before the Greenwich policy period began. The NDA Action and the Employment Cross-Complaint both…