Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana
Plaintiff-Appellants filed suit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana to recover attorneys’ fees and costs incurred in defending a civil action brought by Boston Old Colony Insurance Company (“Boston Old Colony”), the subrogee of GDC Enviro-Solutions, Inc. (“GDC”). United States Magistrate Judge Stephen C. Riedlinger found that Appellants, pursuant to the indemnification clause and the “Personal Guarantees” clause contained in the sales agreement entered between GDC and TPS Technologies, Inc. (“TPST”), were entitled to recover from the Elnaggar defendants reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses incurred in defending the claims of Boston Old Colony. Appellants also sought to recover these attorneys’ fees and costs from Appellee Scottsdale Insurance Company (“Scottsdale”), the general liability insurer of GDC. Scottsdale did not dispute that the attorneys’ fees and costs sought by Appellants were covered under the terms of a comprehensive general liability insurance policy (“CGL policy”) issued to GDC by Scottsdale. The magistrate judge, however, found that two exclusions contained in the CGL policy barred recovery by Appellants against Scottsdale. In this diversity case involving interpretation of the comprehensive general liability policy under Louisiana law, Plaintiffs-Appellants Thermo Terratech (“Terratech”) and TPST appeal from the grant of judgment to Defendant-Appellee Scottsdale. We reverse.
I. Factual Background and Procedural History