Recent Post-Koken Decision Out of Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas

Judge Ronald W. Folino of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas issued one of the most recent Post-Koken decisions in his June 28, 2011 Order without Opinion in the case of Stepanovich v. McGraw and State Farm, No. GDI10-016523 (Alleg. Co. June 28, 2011, Folino, J.).

This case involved a Plaintiff who sued the tortfeasor for negligence as well as the UIM carrier for UIM benefits and asserted various bad faith claims.  The third party tortfeasor filed preliminary objections seeking a severance of the claims against him from the claims against State Farm.

In his Order on the tortfeasor Defendant's Preliminary Objections, Judge Folino basically combined Judge Strassburger’s holding in Collins v. State Farm with Judge Wettick’s Opinion in Wutz v. State Farm by ruling that the tort and UIM case would proceed to trial first without reference to insurance, and that the bad faith/UTPCPL claims would be presented in a non-jury proceeding immediately thereafter.

Anyone desiring a copy of the Order without Opinion in the case of Stepanovich v. McGraw and State Farm may contact me at dancummins@comcast.net.

I thank Attorney Mark A. Martini of the Pittsburgh law firm of Robb Leonard Mulvihill LLP for forwarding this case to my attention.