The plaintiff brought a motion under Rule 6.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure seeking an order that an accident benefits action be tried together with a related tort action arising from the same motor vehicle accident.
The court considered whether the proceedings shared common questions of law or fact and whether trying them together would promote efficiency and avoid inconsistent findings.
Applying factors relating to expediency, convenience, potential prejudice, and overlap of witnesses and expert evidence, the court found that the actions arose from the same accident and involved overlapping issues regarding injuries and damages.
The court concluded that hearing the matters together would reduce duplication of witnesses and trial time without causing meaningful prejudice.
The motion was granted and the actions were ordered to be tried together.
