Great Northern Insurance Company and Unique Home Designs, Inc. v. NGL Warehouse, LLC, Civil Action No. 2014-cv-3233-PAB-NYW, United States District Court, District of Colorado
Partner Jaime A. Saenz testified at trial as a fact witness and expert witness in a civil action seeking contractual indemnity for reasonable settlement funds paid on behalf of Unique Home Designs, Inc. by its insurer, Great Northern Insurance Company, in an underlying lawsuit that had been removed to the McAllen Division of the Southern District of Texas. The underlying lawsuit arose out of an accident that occurred at the Home Depot store in Mission, Texas, wherein a Home Depot employee sustained fatal injuries on April 30, 2013 when a pallet of doors fell on him. In the underlying lawsuit, Unique Home Designs, through its insurer, funded $5,000,000 of a total $5,950,000 settlement to the Plaintiffs and Intervenor, which also included a release of The Home Depot. Unique Home Designs, Inc. had previously, on several separate occasions, requested contractual indemnity from its supplier, NGL Warehouse, LLC. NGL Warehouse, LLC did not accept and tender its defense. Unique Home Designs, Inc., having not been indemnified by NGL Warehouse, LLC as it was contractually entitled, settled the lawsuit with the Plaintiffs and Intervenor shortly after a mediation. Mr. Saenz represented Unique Home Designs, Inc. in the underlying lawsuit. Following the settlement, the contractual indemnity suit was prosecuted in the Colorado Federal District Court, seeking the $5,000,000 in settlement funds, in addition to attorneys’ fees and expenses. The indemnity lawsuit was handled by Brett Godfrey of Godfrey Johnson in Denver, Colorado.
The trial commenced on January 23, 2017 and Mr. Saenz was the first witness. He testified on that date and the morning of the following day, January 24, 2017. The case settled on favorable terms immediately following Mr. Saenz’ testimony. The amount of the settlement was confidential.
