overruling Baybutt Constr. Corp. v. Commercial Union Ins. Co., 455 A.2d 914 (Me.1983), stating that “the Court in Baybutt mistook complexity for ambiguity and thus erred in” ruling in favor of the insured
How later courts described this case
- overruling Baybutt Constr. Corp. v. Commercial Union Ins. Co., 455 A.2d 914 (Me.1983), stating that “the Court in Baybutt mistook complexity for ambiguity and thus erred in” ruling in favor of the insured
- stating that language of insurance policy would be viewed by the court from the standpoint of average ordinary person
- reversing Baybutty, Powers v Detroit Automobile Inter-Ins Eocch, 427 Mich 602; 398 NW2d 411 (1986); Atwater Creamery Co v Western Nat’l Mut Ins Co, 366 NW2d 271 (Minn, 1985) (Wahl, J., lead opinion); Brown v Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi, 427 So 2d 139 (Miss, 1983
- contracts “construed in accordance with the intention of the parties, which is to be ascertained from an examination of the whole instrument. All parts and clauses must be considered together that it may be seen if and how far one clause is explained, modified, limited or controlled by the others.”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
ROBERTS, Justice,
dissenting.
I do not join the Court’s decision to overrule Baybutt Construction Corp. v. Commercial Union, 455 A.2d 914 (Me.1983). Although I agree that Baybutt was wrongly decided, that decision was carefully considered by the Court then sitting. See Runyon v. McCrary, 427 U.S. 160, 189-92 , 96 S.Ct. 2586, 2603-05 , 49 L.Ed.2d 415 (1975) (Stevens, J., concurring). Like Justice Stevens, I believe it’s better at times to adhere to a wrongly decided precedent. Moreover, the Court’s reliance on Adams v. Buffalo Forge, 443 A.2d 932 (Me.1982), is misplaced simply because people do not rely on principles of tort law in the same way that they are guided by contract principles. When considering the application of stare decisis, we should not look for evidence of reliance by the present litigants as *388 the Court appears to do, slip op. at 9. Rather, we should consider whether the legal principle is one by which people generally conduct their affairs. Our adoption of the minority rule in Baybutt established the legal framework within which the standard Comprehensive General Liability policy has been interpreted in Maine since 1983. Peerless and other insurers could limit the impact of Baybutt by the simple expedient of attaching a rider to the standard policy. Because Peerless did not limit its policy prior to the damage sustained by the Argiros in 1984, I would affirm the judgment of the Superior Court.