Opinion

Atwater Creamery Co. v. Western National Mutual Insurance Co.

  • 366 N.W.2d 271
  • 52 A.L.R. 4th 1217
  • 1985 Minn. LEXIS 1047
Court
Supreme Court of Minnesota
Filed
Apr 19, 1985
Status
Published
Author
Coyne
On the bench
Wahl, Simonett, Peterson, Kelley
Cited by
158 cases

holding that expert testimony was required to establish standard of care because "the issue center[ed] around the professional judgment of the agent in the absence of requests for action"

How later courts described this case

  • holding that expert testimony was required to establish standard of care because "the issue center[ed] around the professional judgment of the agent in the absence of requests for action"
  • concluding that "where major exclusions are hidden in the definitions section, the insured should be held only to reasonable knowledge of the literal terms and conditions"
  • noting that whether an insurance agent's professional judgments were negligent is assessed against the standard of care an ordinary insurance agent would take in the performance of professional duties
  • holding the reasonable expectations doctrine prevents application of an exclusion "hidden" within the definitions section of a policy

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

*280 COYNE, Justice

(concurring specially).

I join in the special concurrence of Justice Simonett.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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