818 F. 2d 28 - Holland v. Bone Baker
818 F2d 28 Holland v. Bone Baker
818 F.2d 28
Unpublished Disposition
Margaret HOLLAND; Donna Ramsey; Carolyn Webster; Garnette
Alexander, Plaintiff,
v.
Dewey BONE, individually and as Principal of Sylvia
Elementary School, Defendant-Appellee,
and
William BAKER, individually and as County Superintendent
ofSchools of Raleigh County; The Board of
Education of the County of Raleigh, a
statutory corporation, Defendant,
v.
CONTINENTAL CASUALTY COMPANY, a foreign corporation, Third
Party Defendant- Appellant.
No. 86-1248.
United States Court of Appeals,
Fourth Circuit.
Argued April 7, 1987.
Decided April 30, 1987.
NOTICE: Fourth Circuit I.O.P. 36.6 states that citation of unpublished dispositions is disfavored except for establishing res judicata, estoppel, or the law of the case and requires service of copies of cited unpublished dispositions of the Fourth Circuit.
Before WINTER, Chief Judge, ERVIN, Circuit Judge and ANDERSON, United States District Judge for the District of South Carolina, sitting by designation.
Daniel R. Schuda (w. Randolph Fife; Steptoe & Johnson on brief) for Appellant; Warren Ashby Thornhill, III (Thornhill, Kennedy, & Vaughan on brief) for appellee.
PER CURIAM:
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Dewey Bone and Continental Casualty Company (Continental) litigated the question of whether Continental was liable for counsel fees for an attorney employed by Bone to represent him in a suit instituted by various teachers against him and other defendants. Continental was the liability insurer of Bone and the other defendants and had covenanted to defend them. The district court ruled Continental liable, and Continental appeals. We affirm.
With commendable candor, Continental, in its reply brief and in oral argument, now tells us that it admits that there was a conflict of interest between Bone and the other insureds which became apparent as the teachers' suit progressed. We think that the nature of the conflict was such that it exi.sted from the onset of the teachers' suit. Although Bone employed his own counsel without proper notice to Continental and without affording Continental the right to select the lawyer to represent Bone, we perceive no prejudice to Continental. It makes no claim that it would have provided either more able or less expensive representation.
It follows that the judgment of the district court should not be disturbed.
AFFIRMED.