Legal Decisions

Montana Supreme Court Cases

Tenas v. Progressive Preferred Ins. Co., 347 Mont. 133 (2008)
Montana Supreme Court held that Nevada choice of law provision applied to the insurance contract and therefore stacking was not appropriate under Montana law. Though Duckworth Law received an unfavorable result in this case, this decision has been criticized in a recent Trial Trends article by Professor Greg Munro titled Auto Policy Conflicts of Law in Montana.

Hardy v. Progressive, 315 Mont. 107 (2003)
The U.S. District Court for the District of Montana certified a question to the Montana Supreme Court. In a groundbreaking decision for Montana automobile insurance law, the Court declared the Montana anti-stacking statute unconstitutional. The Montana Supreme Court additionally held that: (1) the offset provision in the insurance agreement violated public policy; (2) the anti-stacking provision was against public policy and a statute, to the extent that it allowed charging premiums for illusory coverage, was unconstitutional; and (3) policies, under which an insurer received consideration for coverage, that contained provisions that defeated that coverage were against public policy.

Bartell v. American Home Assur. Co., 310 Mont. 276 (2002)
Salish Kootenai College purchased a semi-trailer without wheels for use as a storage container. Bartell, an employee of the college, was crushed by the semi-trailer as it was moved or pushed into position by forklifts. The college’s liability policy did not provide for the bodily injury suffered by the employee. However, the employee’s own automobile insurance policy issued by defendant insurer included uninsured motorists coverage. The policy provided further that “uninsured motor vehicle” did not include any vehicle or equipment owned by any governmental unit or agency. The United States district court initially concluded that since the uninsured vehicle, the semi-trailer, was owned by a tribal governmental agency, the government-owned exclusion defeated the uninsured motorist coverage. After receiving additional briefing on the government-owned exclusion, the United States District Court certified a question to the Montana Supreme Court. The supreme court held that an automobile policy issued in the State of Montana with respect to a motor vehicle registered and maintained in Montana that provided that any vehicle or equipment owned by any governmental unit or agency could not be an uninsured motor vehicle violated the statutory law and the public policy of Montana.

Ike v. Jefferson Nat. Life Ins. Co, 267 Mont. 396 (1994)
The plaintiff died of pulmonary aspiration while allegedly intoxicated and his estate filed a claim for accidental death benefits. The insurer denied the claim and Duckworth Law filed suit against the insurer. The plaintiff was awarded accidental death benefits by the Lake County District court. The insurance company appealed to the Montana Supreme Court. After hearing oral argument, the Supreme Court affirmed the District Court’s decision to award benefits to the plaintiff.

Oakland v. Wolf , 258 Mont. 35 (1993)
Duckworth Law Office represented Debra Okland, mother of eight year old Bernie Okland who was injured when he was struck by a car. In the guardian’s action the jury returned a verdict, finding that both the driver and the child were negligent and that each was 50 percent responsible for the collision. On appeal, among the driver’s contentions was that the district court erred when it denied his motions for summary judgment, a directed verdict, and judgment notwithstanding the verdict based on the sufficiency of the evidence. The court concluded that there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding that the driver was negligent by failing to keep a proper lookout and have his vehicle under sufficient control to avoid his collision with the child. The driver also contended that an inadvertent instruction read to the jury was a misstatement of the law, and that he was prejudiced as a result. The court found that the driver had not objected to the district court’s solution for dealing with the mistake, but instead chose to submit his case to the jury based on the posture that it was in. The driver was, therefore, precluded from requesting relief in the nature of a mistrial for the first time on appeal after receiving a verdict from the jury that he considered adverse. The verdict awarding the Oklands damages was upheld.

Thornock v. State of Montana, 229 Mont. 67 (1987)
Man was injured while removing a block of wood jammed in a conveyor belt. The Supreme Court found that the state’s duty to inspect was superseded by federal regulations.

Bartell v. State of Montana, 1985 Mont. Lexis 672 (1985)
Bartell struck a traffic island with a motorcycle, lost control, and was thrown to the side of the highway. A blood-alcohol test indicated an illegal level. The district court found that if the injured party had been driving in a reasonably careful and prudent manner and not under the influence of alcohol, he could have easily avoided the collision with the traffic island. Any deficiencies in the highway design, signing, or maintenance were not found to be a cause of the accident. The Montana Supreme Court affirmed on rehearing.