Polcom USA, LLC v. Affiliated FM Insurance Company

Background

The Polcom action concerns Polcom USA, LLC’s claim for insurance coverage for alleged water damage to prefabricated modular hotel rooms connected with construction of a hotel in Seattle, Washington. The action was filed in the Southern District of New York and was pending before Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald.

M. A. Mortenson Company separately brought an insurance-coverage action against Zurich American Insurance Company in Washington state court. Zurich removed that action to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, which later granted Zurich’s request to transfer it to the Southern District of New York. The transferred case became No. 1:22-cv-0092 and was accepted as related to the Polcom action.

Consolidation

The parties stipulated to consolidation under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42(a), which allows related actions involving common legal or factual questions to be combined. They stated that the two actions involve the same prefabricated hotel rooms, substantially similar claims, and overlapping questions about liability and damages.

Ruling

Judge Buchwald ordered the actions consolidated for all pretrial purposes, including discovery. The order provides that later papers in either action must be filed in the Polcom action under the consolidated caption, and that previously entered orders remain effective in the consolidated action. The parties’ questions and arguments about consolidating the cases for trial were expressly deferred until the cases are ready for trial. The order also required a discovery-plan report and set a scheduling conference.