Sevigny v. Employers Insurance

BOUDIN, Chief Judge.

The case before us presents another variation on the question when, under the so-called abstention doctrines, a federal court should defer to state proceedings. The appellant is Employers Insurance of Wausau (“Wausau”); the appellee is Roger A. Sevigny, Insurance Commissioner of New Hampshire (“Commissioner”), acting as liquidator of The Home Insurance Company (“Home”), now insolvent. We begin with the background events and then describe the state court proceedings and the federal action now before us.

Prior to its insolvency, Home was an insurance company, incorporated and…