A federal court in Texas denied Aon Re’s motion for preliminary injunction against the defendant TIG Insurance Company. Aon Re moved to enjoin TIG from bringing claims arising out of two reinsurance treaties entered into in the late 1990’s that had been the subject of prior litigation, also in federal court in Texas, and which was resolved on summary judgment in Aon Re’s favor on statute of limitation grounds in 2005. However, TIG subsequently brought claims against Aon Re, based at least in part on issues pertaining to the two treaties, in federal court in Texas, which it withdrew, and then re-filed in state court in California.
Aon Re sought an injunction from the Texas federal court to enjoin TIG from prosecuting any further claims arising from the treaties, as it contended those issues had all been resolved. TIG cited the Anti-Injunction Act, which generally disfavors a federal court’s injunction preventing a state court from exercising its jurisdiction. Aon Re cited the “relitigation” exception to the Anti-Injunction Act, but the Court held that Aon Re failed to demonstrate, under the more strict standards required to obtain injunctive relief, that the prior judgment rendered based on statute of limitations grounds was a judgment “on the merits,” entitling it to the preclusive effect. The court essentially left it to the state court in California to decide for itself whether Aon Re was entitled to preclusion, based on the prior judgment in its favor. Aon RE, Inc. v. TIG Ins. Co., No. 3:09-cv-0300-B (USDC N.D. Tex. Sept. 28, 2009).
This post written by John Pitblado.