Motions for reconsideration rarely succeed, whether at a trial court or appellate court. But every now and then, a court grants one, giving hope to every lawyer who’s ever been ruled against. So, every lawyer. Today, the Washington Court of Appeals, Division II, granted a motion for reconsideration in favor of a health insurance policyholder who had been sued by her health insurer in Group Health Cooperative v. Hall and withdrew its January 5, 2021 opinion.
In January, the Court of Appeals filed an opinion holding (2-1) Hall breached the duty to cooperate as a matter of law, which prejudiced Group Health as a matter of law, and the trial court properly dismissed Hall’s counterclaims. In other words, it was a complete win for the insurer. The dissent in the January 2021 opinion basically said there were issues of fact regarding whether Hall breached her duty to cooperate and whether it prejudiced Group Health, so summary judgment was inappropriate.
The only publicly accessible place I can find the January 5, 2021 opinion is Google Scholar. It may be that the court staff has already removed the slip opinion from the website. If so, they work fast. For anyone with a subscription to Westlaw or Lexis, the citations are 2021 WL 37611 and 2021 Wash. App. LEXIS 15. I also couldn’t find the motion for reconsideration and response on the court’s website. The appellate courts usually post briefs, but apparently not motions.
The court did not give a reason for granting the motion for reconsideration and did not say when the new opinion would be published, just that it would “be filed in due course.” So we’ll have to wait and see what arguments prevailed. But all in all, it must feel good to be the policyholder’s lawyers today!
