Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company v. Gateway Hospitality Group Inc., et al.

Whether the nationwide territory of coverage clause in the insurance policy Philadelphia sold to Gateway in Ohio obligated Philadelphia to submit to personal jurisdiction in a Montana court when Gateway sued Philadelphia in Montana because, as the Montana Supreme Court found, “Philadelphia had the power to contractually exclude Montana from the Policy’s coverage area ….” should Philadelphia have sought to avoid litigating in Montana. Gateway Hosp. Grp. Inc. v. Phila. Indem Ins. Co., 2020 MT 125 at *P33; see also Farmers Ins. Exch. v. Portage La Prairie Mut. Ins. Co., 907 F.2d 911, 914 (9th Cir. 1990). Or whether the due process requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment as expressed in this Court’s personal jurisdiction jurisprudence coupled with concepts of “fair play and substantial justice” defeat personal jurisdiction in Montana because Gateway’s Philadelphia Policy contained a forum selection /arbitration clause that required all disputes about coverage between Philadelphia and Gateway be arbitrated in Ohio, thus leading Philadelphia to expect at the time of contracting with Gateway in Ohio that, by the parties contractual agreement, any coverage dispute would be arbitrated in Ohio and that Philadelphia would not be subject to personal jurisdiction in a Montana court.