O'Hara v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co‪.‬

Plaintiffs, Maura C. O'Hara and Mary Mitchell, brought a declaratory judgment action against defendant, State Farm Insurance Company, seeking a declaration that a conflict of interest existed between plaintiffs and defendant in an underlying tort action. On defendant's motion, the trial court dismissed plaintiffs' complaint ""without prejudice"" for failure to state a cause of action. Plaintiffs appeal from the order of dismissal. On March 13, 1981, plaintiffs were involved in a one-car automobile accident. O'Hara, the driver of the vehicle, sustained personal injuries as a result of the accident. Mitchell, a passenger in the auto, was killed. The administrator of the Mitchell estate brought an action against O'Hara for wrongful death and personal injuries. O'Hara filed a counterclaim against the administrator of Mitchell's estate for personal injuries. In the counterclaim, O'Hara alleged that Mitchell, while a passenger in the car driven by O'Hara, grabbed the steering wheel and caused the accident, or in the alternative, that Mitchell was the driver of the vehicle and O'Hara was her passenger. The automobile in which the plaintiffs were riding at the time of the accident was insured by defendant, State Farm. Defendant retained separate counsel for each plaintiff to defend their interests in the lawsuit. The plaintiffs then filed a declaratory judgment action against defendant claiming a conflict of interest existed for defendant in its representation of the interests of both plaintiffs in the tort action. Plaintiffs sought a declaration that defendant be barred from participating in the defense of either plaintiff, that the respective attorneys retained by defendant to represent the plaintiffs be disqualified, and that plaintiffs be given the right to hire their own defense counsel. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to section 2-615 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 110, par. 2-615) challenging the legal sufficiency of the complaint. The trial court held that since no insurance coverage issue existed, and defendant was willing to pay judgments entered against either or both parties, there was no conflict of interest. The order of the court dismissed plaintiffs' action ""without prejudice."" In addition, pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 304(a) (87 Ill.2d R. 304(a)), the court found that there was no just reason for delaying enforcement or appeal.