Jaycie, Inc. v. Acceptance Insurance

*968 MEMORANDUM **

Acceptance Insurance Company-Omaha (“Acceptance”) challenges the district court’s grant of partial summary judgment in favor of Jaycie, Inc. (“Jaycie”) and its owner, Jackie Johnson. Acceptance refused to defend Jaycie in a lawsuit brought by an individual on the basis of injuries that he suffered as a result of a brawl in the Gold Bar Tavern, which Jaycie owned at the time of the incident. The district court determined that Acceptance had the duty to defend Jaycie. We reverse.

The fact that a settlement has been reached in the underlying suit does not make this appeal moot. Because of Jaycie’s outstanding bad faith claim against Acceptance, the parties still have a “stake in the outcome of our evaluation” of the district court’s decision that Acceptance had a duty to defend. See Lasar v. Ford Motor Co., 399 F.3d 1101, 1108 (9th Cir. 2005).

It is well-settled law in Montana that “an insurer’s duty to defend its insured arises when a complaint against an insured alleges facts, which if proven, would result in coverage.” Farmers Union Mut. Ins. Co. v. Staples, 321 Mont. 99 , 90 P.3d 381, 385 (2004) (citation omitted). The court may not look beyond the facts…