Mercury Insurance Group v. Superior Court

Opinion

MOSK, J.

We granted review to address an important question of law: Does a trial court have authority to “consolidate” a contractual arbitration proceeding between an insurer and an insured as to uninsured motorist coverage in the insured’s pending action against third parties—strictly speaking, does it have authority to join the insurer as a defendant as to uninsured motorist coverage issues—for all purposes, including trial, in order to avoid conflicting rulings on a common issue of law or fact? As we shall explain, we conclude that the answer that we must give is: Yes.

I

Although it…