Yu v. Liberty Surplus Ins. Corp.
Annotate this CaseBann-Shiang Liza Yu hired Automatic Teller Modules, Inc. (ATMI), a general contractor, to design and build a hotel. After the hotel opened, Yu filed a complaint against ATMI for construction defects, praying for “not less than $10 million dollars” in damages. ATMI filed a cross-complaint against its subcontractors, including Fitch Construction and Fitch Plastering (collectively the Fitch Entities). ATMI’s cross- complaint prayed for “compensatory damages according to proof.” Yu and ATMI settled their lawsuit. Subsequently, ATMI assigned its cross-complaint rights to Yu, who obtained a $1.2 million default judgment against the Fitch Entities. Yu then sued the alleged insurers of the Fitch Entities, in order to collect on her default judgment. But the trial court voided the underlying default judgment, finding that ATMI’s cross-complaint did not state an amount of damages. On appeal, Yu argued the damage amount of “not less than $10 million dollars” stated in her initial complaint was “incorporated by reference” in ATMI’s cross-complaint against its subcontractors. The Court of Appeal disagreed: the purported incorporation by reference was “for identification and informational purposes only”; ATMI’s cross-complaint did not state an amount of alleged damages, the cross-complaint merely prayed for “damages according to proof.”
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