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STATE OF MINNESOTA IN SUPREME COURT A06-2133 Court of Appeals Anderson, G. Barry, J. Took no part, Dietzen, J.

Jason George, Respondent, vs. Filed: July 31, 2008 Office of Appellate Courts

Daniel Evenson, et al., Defendants, Auto-Owners Insurance Company, Appellant, Progressive Insurance Company, Respondent. SYLLABUS 1. The claimants arbitration award constituted a settlement subject to the

notice requirements of Schmidt v. Clothier, 338 N.W.2d 256 (Minn. 1983), because the language of the arbitration agreement characterized the arbitration as a settlement and the last notice that the claimant provided his underinsurer was a Schmidt notice. 2. The notice that the claimant provided his underinsurer satisfied the Schmidt

notice requirements. Affirmed.
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Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc. OPINION ANDERSON, G. Barry, Justice. We are called upon to decide whether the unorthodox arbitration proceeding in this motor vehicle accident dispute was the functional equivalent of (1) a tort action pursued to a conclusion in a district court action, in which case the underinsurer was entitled to notice pursuant to Malmin v. Minnesota Mutual Fire & Casualty Co., 552 N.W.2d 723 (Minn. 1996); or (2) an effort to arrive at a settlement agreement between the injured claimant and the tortfeasors, in which case the underinsurer was entitled to notice of the proposed settlement and an opportunity to substitute payment to the claimant pursuant to Schmidt v. Clothier, 338 N.W.2d 256 (Minn. 1983), superseded by statute on other grounds, Minn. Stat.

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