9th Cir. Upholds Dismissal of Declaratory Judgment Action on Jurisdictional Grounds

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court has affirmed a lower court’s refusal to exercise jurisdiction over an insurer’s declaratory relief action involving coverage for sexual abuse claims, ruling that because the insured’s counterclaims were conditional, the court could still decide its threshold affirmative jurisdictional defense.

In a Nov. 16 opinion, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals concluded that the lower court properly considered all factors before declining to exercise jurisdiction, noting that the declaratory claims could be filed in state court and that deciding them would not settle all aspects of the controversy or clarify the parties’ legal …