The defendant insurer moved under Rule 6.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure for an order that a simplified procedure action against the insurer and a separate tort action arising from the same motor vehicle accident be tried together or sequentially.
Although both proceedings arose from the same collision and involved overlapping liability issues, the court held that consolidation was not appropriate.
The insurance action involved a discrete fault determination issue and was ready for trial, while the tort action was significantly more complex and at an early procedural stage.
The court concluded that trying the actions together would cause delay and offer little efficiency benefit.
The motion was dismissed and costs were awarded to the plaintiff.
