Garvey v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Co.
California Supreme Court
770 P.2d 704 (1989)
- Written by Rich Walter, JD
Facts
State Farm Fire and Casualty Company (State Farm) (defendant) insured Jack and Rita Garvey (plaintiffs) under an all-risk homeowner’s-insurance policy. The policy included coverage for negligent construction but excluded coverage for earth movement. The Garveys filed a claim against their policy when they noticed that an extension to their house was pulling away from the main building. State Farm denied the claim. The Garveys sued to enforce indemnification. The trial court ruled that the evidence supported an attribution of the Garveys’ property damage to the concurrent proximate causes of soil slippage and negligent construction. State Farm appealed, and an intermediate court reversed the trial court’s ruling. The California Supreme Court reviewed the intermediate court’s decision in order to clarify the controlling precedent.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Lucas, C.J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 816,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
