## Facts

- On July 31, 1990, Mark Malloy met Steven Vanwinkle in Gulfport, Mississippi.
- Malloy and Vanwinkle drank beer at the beach and later drank peppermint schnapps at a private home.
- Vanwinkle drove Malloy in Vanwinkle’s car; during the drive, the car struck a tree and Malloy was injured.
- Malloy sued Vanwinkle in tort, but Vanwinkle never appeared in the lawsuit and did not testify.
- Malloy also sued State Farm (his uninsured-motorist insurer under a policy issued to his parents), alleging that he was an insured household member and that Vanwinkle had no liability insurance.
- To determine whether Vanwinkle was insured, Malloy’s lawyer wrote Vanwinkle on August 15, 1990, stating she represented Malloy and asking Vanwinkle to have his liability insurer contact her.
- On September 12, 1990, counsel received a reply letter signed “Steven Vanwinkle,” referencing Malloy and the accident date, stating Vanwinkle had “no insurance of any kind” and no assets other than his car, which was lost in the accident.
- The case was removed to federal court and remanded after the parties stipulated Malloy’s recovery would not exceed $50,000 exclusive of interest and costs.
- The matter was tried to a jury. The jury found for Malloy but assessed 30% comparative fault to Malloy.
- The trial court also awarded statutory penalties and attorney’s fees against State Farm for failing to tender benefits.
- State Farm appealed (challenging liability/coverage, not damages), and Malloy cross-appealed (challenging the comparative-fault allocation and the amount of attorney’s fees).

## Issues

1. Whether State Farm could challenge uninsured-motorist coverage on appeal when it did not identify UM coverage as a contested issue in the pretrial order.
2. Whether Malloy presented competent evidence that Vanwinkle was uninsured, including whether the signed reply letter was properly authenticated and admissible.
3. Whether the jury’s allocation of 30% comparative fault to Malloy was manifestly erroneous.
4. Whether penalties and attorney’s fees were properly awarded against State Farm, and whether Malloy was entitled to additional attorney’s fees for defending the appeal.

## Decision

- The court held State Farm could not raise a UM-coverage challenge that was not listed as a contested issue in the pretrial order.
- The court held Malloy presented sufficient evidence that Vanwinkle was uninsured; the reply letter, received in response to counsel’s earlier letter and containing identifying references, was properly authenticated and could be considered as proof.
- The court affirmed the jury’s 30% comparative fault allocation, finding no manifest error.
- The court affirmed statutory penalties and trial-level attorney’s fees and awarded Malloy additional attorney’s fees for work performed on appeal.

## Legal Principles

- A pretrial order controls the course of trial by identifying the issues in dispute; a party that fails to list a contention in the pretrial order may be barred from raising it later, including on appeal.
- When the existence of UM coverage is not made a contested issue in the pretrial order, the opposing party is entitled to try the case without producing proof aimed at a dispute that was not identified.
- Under the reply-letter doctrine, a writing can be authenticated by circumstantial evidence when it appears to be a response to an earlier communication and contains details linking it to the purported sender.
- A UM claimant may prove the tortfeasor’s uninsured status through competent evidence, including authenticated written admissions and other circumstantial proof, if the factfinder reasonably accepts it.
- Comparative-fault allocations are factual determinations reviewed under the manifest error/clearly wrong standard.
- When an insurer’s failure to tender benefits supports statutory penalties and attorney’s fees, and the insured must defend that judgment on appeal, an appellate court may award additional attorney’s fees for the appeal.

## Conclusion

The Louisiana Fourth Circuit affirmed the judgment for Malloy, holding that State Farm could not contest UM coverage after failing to list it as a disputed issue in the pretrial order, and that the signed reply letter and related circumstances provided adequate proof that Vanwinkle was uninsured; the jury’s 30% comparative-fault finding and the awards of penalties and attorney’s fees were affirmed, with additional attorney’s fees granted for the appeal.


Malloy v. Vanwinkle, 662 So. 2d 96 (1995)