[DOWNLOAD] "Harris v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co." by United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit " eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Harris v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co.
- Author : United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Release Date : January 14, 1993
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 60 KB
Description
MEMORANDUM* As a matter of Oregon law, the covenant not to sue between Dr. Timothy Patrick and Columbia Memorial Hospital settled none of Patrick's claims against plaintiffs, including claims based on plaintiffs' actions as Columbia's agents, because the covenant specifically reserved all of Patrick's rights against plaintiffs. See Holger v. Irish, 834 P.2d 1028, 1030 (Or. Ct. App. 1992) (clause generally settling claims failed to override another clause specifically reserving all rights against a particular party), aff'd, 851 P.2d 1122 (Or. 1993); see also Stanfield v. Laccoarce, 588 P.2d 1271, 1278 (Or. 1978) (express reservation of plaintiff's rights against parents, thereby negating any intent to release them, barred parents from invoking release in defending against plaintiff's suit). St. Paul's efforts to avoid the Oregon Court of Appeals' Holger decision are unavailing. The Oregon Supreme Court affirmed on other grounds but nothing in that court's decision casts doubt on the court of appeals' resolution of the covenant issue. In the absence of any reason to believe the Oregon Supreme Court would decide that question differently, we look to the intermediate court's decision for guidance. See, e.g., Insurance Co. v. Associated Int'l Ins. Co., 922 F.2d 516, 520 (9th Cir. 1990) (intermediate appellate state court decisions provide guidance and should not be disregarded in the absence of persuasive data that highest state court would decide an issue differently).