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Atlantic Specialty Insurance Companyv.Nancy Lewis Et Al.

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A17A0190
DecidedJune 20, 2017
JudgesCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Tags
CivilInsurance LawGovernment LawStandingDeclaratory JudgmentSummary JudgmentVacaturReversalRemand
Case Summary

Nancy Lewis sued the City of Cartersville over injuries to her daughter and separately sought a declaration that the City had five million dollars in insurance coverage and had waived sovereign immunity to that amount. She filed the declaratory action before obtaining a judgment in the underlying personal-injury case. The Georgia Court of Appeals held that Lewis lacked standing to seek the declaration because she had not yet obtained an unsatisfied judgment against the City. Without that judgment, the amount of any covered loss and the City’s obligation to pay remained contingent. The court therefore vacated the trial court’s order granting summary judgment on the insurance and sovereign-immunity issues, reversed the denial of Atlantic Specialty’s motion to dismiss, and remanded with direction that the declaratory action be dismissed for lack of standing.

Opinion

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