General Motors is taking Royal & SunAlliance (R&SA) to the Michigan Court of Appeals to recover defence costs in the US litigation...
General Motors (GM) is taking Royal & SunAlliance (R&SA) to the Michigan Court of Appeals to recover defence costs in the ongoing US litigation.
GM is to attempt to recover defence costs for its claims now rather than wait for the conclusion of the trial which is due to begin in September 2006.
The trial court had earlier denied GMs' motion for an order directing Royal Indemnity, a subsidiary of Royal & SunAlliance Insurance Group, to begin immediate payment of the costs of defending GM in numerous claims, including underlying environmental and asbestos actions, under policies sold to GM prior to 1972.
The Court of Appeals strongly discourages appeals of orders prior to the conclusion of trial and historically has granted leave only in situations demonstrating clear irreparable harm caused by the order which is the subject of the appeal.
According to one estimate, as few as 15% of such requests are granted.
Richard Fields of Dickstein Shapiro, lead counsel for GM in the US, said: “This is good news for our case. It is very unusual to win the right to an immediate appeal of an order such as this, and we believe that the appellate court's decision to allow us to proceed with that immediate appeal augers well for our ultimate chances of success on the merits of the appeal."
