STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, Petitioner, v. THE SUPERIOR COURT OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Respondent; SAUL ORTEGA et al., Real Parties in Interest, 211 Cal. App. 3d 5

Summary

Plaintiffs, the real parties in interest, obtained a judgment under Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1141.23 against the insureds of petitioner insurer following a judicial arbitration proceeding and an award from which no party sought a trial de novo. Plaintiffs then filed a bad faith action against petitioner pursuant to Cal. Ins. Code § 790.03(h). After the trial court denied petitioner's motion for judgment on the pleadings, petitioner filed a petition for writ of mandate asking the appeals court to direct the trial court to grant the motion. Petitioner argued the trial court erred in finding that the judgment entered after arbitration was a conclusive judicial determination of liability. The appeals court denied the petition for writ of mandate. The court ruled that the determination of the liability issue by the arbitration process, and the subsequent entry of final judgment, was a sufficient judicial resolution. The court noted that if petitioner did not want the arbitration award to ...