Home Owners Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Northwestern Fire & Marine Insurance

The majority state an abstract proposition of law which is sound: A party not privy to a prior judgment may, by way of collateral estoppel, use that judgment defensively against a party who was a plaintiff in the action which led to the prior judgment. The proposition, however, has no application to the case before us since the prior judgment was predicated on an issue different from the issue presented for determination in the second case. I disagree with the opinion and feel obliged to state my reasons.

1. In the first case, the trial judge found that the policy was in effect. His final…