Opinion

Ruwe v. Farmers Mutual United Insurance Co.

  • 238 Neb. 67
  • 469 N.W.2d 129
  • 1991 Neb. LEXIS 201
Court
Nebraska Supreme Court
Filed
May 10, 1991
Status
Published
Author
Grant
On the bench
Hastings, Boslaugh, White, Caporale, Shanahan, Grant, Fahrnbruch
Cited by
36 cases

motion for reconsideration or, in the alternative, for new trial viewed as a motion for new trial and, it is held, must be filed within 10 days

How later courts described this case

  • motion for reconsideration or, in the alternative, for new trial viewed as a motion for new trial and, it is held, must be filed within 10 days
  • bad-faith tort claim against insurer in first-party context

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

*76 Grant, J.,

concurring.

I agree wholly with the opinion in this case. I write separately only to inform the members of the bar that problems lurk in the practice of law that most practicing lawyers and judges (specifically including the writer of this concurrence) never realize. In this case, an expert witness testified on behalf of the defendant. During his sworn testimony, this expert testified that he had graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1972, with a degree in electrical engineering, and from Texas A & M in 1982, with a Ph.D. in the same subject. He rendered learned expert opinions in the case.

Some time after cross-examination of this expert, plaintiff’s attorney and defendant’s attorney (not defendant’s present counsel) entered into a stipulation that no one with the witness’ name had graduated from MIT in 1972 and that no one with the witness’ name had ever graduated from Texas A & M or had received a doctorate from that school in 1982 or any other year. This stipulation apparently precipitated defendant’s offer to confess judgment, as referred to in the majority opinion.

I feel that such information is appropriately disseminated to the bar, to at least reduce the chances that similar misfortunes may occur to unsuspecting lawyers. It would seem not only that Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion, but that the careful lawyer should check to determine if she was legally married to Julius.

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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