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Choate Constr. Co. v. Auto-Owners Ins. Co.

The law-of-the-case doctrine barred summary judgment as to the appellant's claims for liability on payment and performance bonds, because the Court held in a prior appeal that several genuine issues of material fact existed regarding those claims and the appellant did not show that the evidentiary posture had changed such that the law-of-the-case doctrine did not apply.

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In this suit to impose liability on payment and performance bonds, general contractor Choate Construction Company Choate appeals the trial court’s denial of partial summary judgment as to its claims for liability on the bonds against surety Auto-Owners Insurance Company AOIC and its grant of partial summary judgment to AOIC as to Choate’s claims for surety bad faith and attorney fees.1 On appeal, Choate argues that the trial court misinterpreted the bonds’ principal and the incorporated subcontract, misinterpreted the parties’ intentions as reflected in the bonds, erred in its application of the rules of contract construction, and erred in finding that AOIC was entitled to summary judgment as to its claims for surety bad faith and attorney fees. For the reasons set forth infra, we affirm.

We have previously reviewed this case on appeal from a summary-judgment ruling, and our prior opinion sets forth many of the facts relevant to the instant appeal.2 But by way of review and viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Choate, the nonmoving party,3 the evidence shows that, in November 2008, Choate entered into a contract with the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia for the construction of sorority and fraternity houses at the University of Georgia.4 Thereafter, Choate hired Dedmon Electrical Services Dedmon to perform the electrical work on the project, which was referred to as Greek Park.5

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