First State Insurance v. Callan Associates, Inc.

ORDER DECLINING TO EXERCISE JURISDICTION

INTRODUCTION

Earlier this year, Callan Associates, Inc. (hereafter Callan) filed a motion asking District Judge Weigel to decline to exercise jurisdiction over the declaratory relief action that First State Insurance Company (hereafter First State) had filed some nine months earlier. In April Judge Weigel decided to decline jurisdiction over two of the bases on which First State based its claim that it had no liability under the subject insurance policy, but decided to exercise his discretion to retain jurisdiction over the third basis for First State’s position, namely that Callan allegedly had “failed to disclose the possibility of litigation on its application for the Policy 1 and that Callan failed to give timely notice 2 to First State regarding the KPERS litigation.” Memorandum and Order, filed April 13,1995, at 7.

The result of Judge Weigel’s decision is to send two of the three possible bases for a finding that First State has no liability to another forum — presumably the Superior Court for the City and County of San Francisco. 3 If First State were to prevail on the claim that would remain here under Judge Weigel’s ruling there…