Hoiness-LaBar Insurance v. Julien Construction Co

In Hoiness-LaBar Insurance v. Julien Construction Co. (Wyo. 1987) 743 P.2d 1262, the trial court in Wyoming refused to stay an action against an insolvent insurer who went into receivership in Indiana, its domiciliary state, during the Wyoming litigation. Both Wyoming and Indiana had adopted the UILA. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the denial of the stay, finding the relevant portion of the UILA was the section prohibiting the commencement or maintenance of "an action or proceeding in the nature of an attachment, garnishment or execution . . . against any delinquent insurer or its assets" during the pendency of any delinquency proceedings. Looking solely to that section of the UILA, the Wyoming court stated, "A careful reading of the above-quoted statute reveals that the uniform act enjoins the enforcement of a judgment through attachment, garnishment or execution proceedings. The act does not, however, prohibit a party from maintaining an action to obtain a judgment, or prohibit a court from entering a judgment. The act only prohibits actions to enforce or collect on a judgment. . . . The uniform act does not contemplate the discontinuance of an action to obtain a judgment underway in Wyoming." (Id. at pp. 1268-1269.)