Northwest Pipe Company v. The Phoenix Insurance Company et al, No. 3:2021cv05652 - Document 38 (W.D. Wash. 2023)

Court Description: ORDER granting 37 Fourth Stipulated MOTION to Extend Deadline for Settlement and Dismissal. Dismissal/Settlement papers due by 10/16/2023. Signed by Judge Benjamin H. Settle.(MW)

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Northwest Pipe Company v. The Phoenix Insurance Company et al Doc. 38 Case 3:21-cv-05652-BHS Document 38 Filed 08/30/23 Page 1 of 6 Honorable Benjamin H. Settle 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA 8 9 10 NORTHWEST PIPE COMPANY, a Washington corporation, 13 14 15 16 17 STIPULATED MOTION AND ORDER REGARDING EXTENSION OF DEADLINE FOR SETTLEMENT AND DISMISSAL Plaintiff, 11 12 Case No.: 21-5652 BHS v. THE PHOENIX INSURANCE COMPANY, a foreign insurer authorized by the Washington insurance commissioner, TRAVELERS PROPERTY CASUALTY COMPANY OF AMERICA, a foreign insurer authorized by the Washington insurance commissioner, and ALLIED WORLD NATIONAL ASSURANCE COMPANY, a foreign insurer authorized by the Washington insurance commissioner, 18 Defendants. 19 I. 20 STIPULATED MOTION 21 On April 22, 2022, Plaintiff Northwest Pipe Company and Defendants Travelers 22 Property Casualty Company of America, The Phoenix Insurance Company, and Allied World 23 National Assurance Company (collectively, the “Parties”), by and through their respective 24 undersigned counsel of record, filed a Notice of Conditional Settlement (the “Notice”), 25 notifying this Court that any and all claims against all Parties in this action have been 26 conditionally resolved through settlement. As explained in the Notice, settlement of this STIPULATED MOTION AND ORDER REGARDING SETTLEMENT AND DISMISSAL - 1 CASE NO.: 21-5652 BHS BUCHALTER 1420 FIFTH AVENUE, SUITE 3100 SEATTLE, WA 98101-1337 TELEPHONE: 206.319.7052 40645\16346060.2 Dockets.Justia.com Case 3:21-cv-05652-BHS Document 38 Filed 08/30/23 Page 2 of 6 1 insurance coverage action is conditioned upon full and final settlement of the underlying action 2 captioned Minako America Corporation v. County of Los Angeles, et al., Riverside County 3 Superior Court Case No. RIC1816838 (the “Underlying Action”), which requires approval by 4 local governmental authorities, as well as the execution of a formal settlement agreement and 5 mutual release resolving this insurance coverage action. This Court acknowledged the Notice 6 and set a deadline of October 19, 2022 for the filing of dismissal papers. On October 13, 2022, 7 the Parties filed a Stipulated Motion Re Status Report and Proposed Order Re Settlement and 8 Dismissal. (Dkt. 31.) That Stipulated Motion explained that the process of finalizing the 9 Underlying Action settlement agreement was taking longer than expected, and requested an 10 extension of the deadline for the filing of dismissal papers in this action, to February 3, 2023. 11 On October 13, 2023, this Court granted the Stipulated Motion, extending the deadline for the 12 submission of dismissal papers to February 3, 2023. (Dkt. 32.) On January 18, 2023, the Parties 13 filed a Second Stipulated Motion, seeking a further extension of the deadline for the filing of 14 dismissal papers in this action, due to the length of time it was taking to complete the process 15 of documenting and approving the Underlying Action settlement. (Dkt. 33.) On January 19, 16 2023, this Court granted the Second Stipulated Motion, extending the deadline for the 17 submission of dismissal papers to May 4, 2023. (Dkt. 34.) On April 25, 2023, the Parties filed 18 a Third Stipulated Motion, seeking a further extension of the deadline for the filing of dismissal 19 papers in this action. (Dkt. 35.) On April 27, 2023, this Court granted the Third Stipulated 20 Motion, extending the deadline for the submission of dismissal papers to September 1, 2023. 21 (Dkt. 36.) 22 The Parties, by and through their respective undersigned counsel of record, now hereby 23 stipulate and agree that this Court should extend by an additional 45 days the dismissal deadline 24 currently in place in this action, to October 16, 2023 to facilitate finalization of the Underlying 25 Action settlement, as well as settlement of this action. 26 The Underlying Action settlement required approval from the Los Angeles County STIPULATED MOTION AND ORDER REGARDING SETTLEMENT AND DISMISSAL - 2 CASE NO.: 21-5652 40645\16346060.2 BUCHALTER 1420 FIFTH AVENUE, SUITE 3100 SEATTLE, WA 98101-1337 TELEPHONE: 206.319.7052 Case 3:21-cv-05652-BHS Document 38 Filed 08/30/23 Page 3 of 6 1 Board of Supervisors (the “Board”). The Underlying Action settlement agreements were 2 approved by the Board on June 27, 2023, and were fully executed as of July 21, 2023. While 3 most parties have delivered the settlement payments contemplated by the Underlying Action 4 settlement agreements, one payment remains outstanding, along with certain non-monetary 5 contingencies that are awaiting completion. (See Exhibit A: Decl. of Christopher M. Pisano 6 Regarding Order to Show Cause Hearing re Settlement; Request for One Final Continuance, 7 filed in the Underlying Action on August 24, 2023.) Once these remaining contingencies are 8 satisfied, the parties to the Underlying Action will be filing a stipulation for dismissal with 9 prejudice of the Underlying Action. Entry of the Underlying Action dismissal is anticipated to 10 occur on or before October 2, 2023. 11 To save the Parties to this action the time and expense of meeting deadlines in this action 12 while awaiting the Underlying Action dismissal, the Parties request a further 45-day extension 13 – until Monday, October 16, 2023. The Parties agree that good cause exists for this short 14 extension of the dismissal deadline, and that the extension will promote the interests of judicial 15 economy. The Parties to this action further agree to jointly notify this Court within fourteen 16 (14) calendar days of the dismissal with prejudice of the Underlying Action, and will jointly 17 move for dismissal of this coverage action at such time. 18 Respectfully submitted this 30th day of August, 2023. 19 BUCHALTER PC LETHER LAW GROUP 20 /s/Bradley Hoff Bradley Hoff, WSBA #23974 1420 Fifth Avenue, Suite 3100 Seattle, WA 98101-1337 T: 206.319.7052 E: bhoff@buchalter.com Attorneys for Plaintiff Northwest Pipe Company /s/Thomas Lether Thomas Lether, WSBA #18089 1848 Westlake Avenue N., Suite 100 Seattle, WA 98109 T: 206.467.5444 F: 206.467.5544 E: tlether@letherlaw.com Attorneys for Defendants The Phoenix Insurance Company and Travelers Property Casualty Company of America 21 22 23 24 25 26 STIPULATED MOTION AND ORDER REGARDING SETTLEMENT AND DISMISSAL - 3 CASE NO.: 21-5652 40645\16346060.2 BUCHALTER 1420 FIFTH AVENUE, SUITE 3100 SEATTLE, WA 98101-1337 TELEPHONE: 206.319.7052 Case 3:21-cv-05652-BHS Document 38 Filed 08/30/23 Page 4 of 6 1 2 FORSBERG UMLAUF, P.S. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 /s/Stephanie Andersen Stephanie Andersen, WSBA #22250 Sally A. Clements, WSBA #54502 901 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1400 Seattle, WA 98164 T: 206.689.8500 F: 206.689.8501 E: SAndersen@FoUm.law E: SClements@FoUm.law Attorneys for Defendant Allied World National Assurance Company NICOLAIDES FINK THORPE MICHAELIDES SULLIVAN LLP /s/Ian A. Cooper Ian A. Cooper, Bar #6292599 Alida Pecanin, Bar #6330275 10 South Wacker Drive, Suite 2100 Chicago, IL 60606 T: 312.585.1400 F: 312.585.1401 E: icooper@nicolaidesllp.com E: apecanin@nicolaidesllp.com Attorneys for Defendant Allied World National Assurance Company Admitted Pro Hac Vice 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 STIPULATED MOTION AND ORDER REGARDING SETTLEMENT AND DISMISSAL - 4 CASE NO.: 21-5652 40645\16346060.2 BUCHALTER 1420 FIFTH AVENUE, SUITE 3100 SEATTLE, WA 98101-1337 TELEPHONE: 206.319.7052 Case 3:21-cv-05652-BHS Document 38 Filed 08/30/23 Page 5 of 6 II. 1 ORDER 2 Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, IT IS SO ORDERED. 3 Dated this 30th day of August, 2023. A 4 5 6 BENJAMIN H. SETTLE United States District Judge 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Jointly Presented by: BUCHALTER PC /s/Bradley Hoff Bradley Hoff, WSBA #23974 1420 Fifth Avenue, Suite 3100 Seattle, WA 98101-1337 E: bhoff@buchalter.com Attorneys for Plaintiff Northwest Pipe Company 15 16 LETHER LAW GROUP 17 /s/Thomas Lether Thomas Lether, WSBA #18089 1848 Westlake Avenue N., Suite 100 Seattle, WA 98109 E: tlether@letherlaw.com Attorneys for Defendants The Phoenix Insurance Company and Travelers Property Casualty Company of America 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 FORSBERG UMLAUF, P.S. /s/Stephanie Andersen Stephanie Andersen, WSBA #22250 Sally A. Clements, WSBA #54502 901 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1400 Seattle, WA 98164 E: SAndersen@FoUm.law STIPULATED MOTION AND PROPOSED ORDER REGARDING SETTLEMENT AND DISMISSAL - 5 CASE NO.: 21-5652 40645\16346060.2 BUCHALTER 1420 FIFTH AVENUE, SUITE 3100 SEATTLE, WA 98101-1337 TELEPHONE: 206.319.7052 Case 3:21-cv-05652-BHS Document 38 Filed 08/30/23 Page 6 of 6 1 2 E: SClements@FoUm.law Attorneys for Defendant Allied World National Assurance Company 3 NICOLAIDES FINK THORPE MICHAELIDES SULLIVAN LLP 4 /s/Ian A. Cooper Ian A. Cooper, Bar #6292599 Alida Pecanin, Bar #6330275 10 South Wacker Drive, Suite 2100 Chicago, IL 60606 E: icooper@nicolaidesllp.com E: apecanin@nicolaidesllp.com Attorney for Allied World National Assurance Company Admitted Pro Hac Vice 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 STIPULATED MOTION AND ORDER REGARDING SETTLEMENT AND DISMISSAL - 6 CASE NO.: 21-5652 40645\16346060.2 BUCHALTER 1420 FIFTH AVENUE, SUITE 3100 SEATTLE, WA 98101-1337 TELEPHONE: 206.319.7052

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