Nationwide-Southeast, Inc. v. American Interstate Insurance

[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FILED
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
________________________ ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
MARCH 19, 2008
THOMAS K. KAHN
No. 07-13176
CLERK
________________________
D. C. Docket No. 05-03248-CV-TCB-1
NATIONWIDE-SOUTHEAST, INC.,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
AMERICAN INTERSTATE INSURANCE CO.,
Defendant-Appellee.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Georgia
_________________________
(March 19, 2008)
Before HULL and WILSON, Circuit Judges, and EDENFIELD,* District Judge.
PER CURIAM:
*
Honorable B. Avant Edenfield, United States District Judge for the Southern District of
Georgia, sitting by designation.
After review and oral argument, we affirm the district court’s June 18, 2007
order granting summary judgment to defendant American Interstate Insurance Co.
(“American Interstate”). Nationwide-Southeast’s (“Nationwide”) claims are barred
by the doctrine of res judicata, as they were compulsory counterclaims in
American Interstate’s 2004 state action to recover premiums. See Johnson v. First
Carolina Fin. Corp., 200 Ga. App. 340, 341, 408 S.E.2d 151, 153 (1991) (finding
that res judicata bars the filing of claims which should have been pled as
compulsory counterclaims in a prior suit). The claims brought by Nationwide in
this action are “logically related” to the claims asserted in American Interstate’s
2004 action, and arise out of the same “transaction or occurrence.” See P & J
Truck Lines, Inc. v. Canal Ins. Co., 148 Ga. App. 3, 4, 251 S.E.2d 72, 73 (1978);
Ga. Code Ann. § 9-11-13(a) (providing that a counterclaim is compulsory “if it
arises out of the transaction or occurrence that is the subject matter of the opposing
party’s claim. . . .”); Allstate Ins. Co. v. Welch, 259 Ga. App. 71, 73, 576 S.E.2d
57, 59 (2003) (“Any claim that is logically related to another claim that is being
sued on is properly the basis for a compulsory counterclaim.”).
AFFIRMED.
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