Vervoorn

MEMORANDUM **

Bert Vervoorn appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Safeco Insurance Company of America in Vervoorn’s diversity action for breach of contract and bad faith. This suit arises from Safeco’s defense of a California Superior Court motor vehicle accident lawsuit. We affirm. Because the parties are familiar with the facts, we do not recite them here.

Vervoorn asserts that he has raised a triable issue of fact regarding whether there existed a conflict of interest in the underlying action that triggered his right to separate counsel under California Civil Code Section 2860. As part of its duty to defend, an insurer must provide separate, independent “Cumis counsel” when counsel would otherwise face a conflict of interest between the insured and the insurer. Dynamic Concepts, Inc. v. Truck Ins. Exch., 61 Cal.App.4th 999, 1007 , 71 Cal. Rptr.2d 882 (1998). This conflict must be “significant, not merely theoretical, [and] actual, not merely potential.” Id. The statute provides that “[n]o conflict shall be deemed to exist as to allegations of punitive damages.” Cal. Civ.Code § 2860(b). In this case, the insurer agreed to defend Vervoorn without a…