Ex Parte Employers Ins. of Wausau

The petitioners seek a writ of mandamus directing the Mobile Circuit Court to set aside certain of its rulings and to stay all proceedings in that court until resolution of an allegedly identical lawsuit pending in a superior court of the State of California.

The petitioners, defendants below, are the primary and excess insurance carriers that issued insurance policies to the respondents, Cooper/T. Smith Stevedoring Company, Inc. ("Cooper/T. Smith"), and Pate Stevedore Company of Mobile ("Pate"). Cooper/T. Smith, a Louisiana corporation with its principal place of business in Mobile, Alabama,…