Attentive readers will note that this space is in tune with the nascent college football season. Last week, we brought you “Paul Bunyan’s Axe.” Today, in yet another conflict of laws decision, we bring you a variant of the Border War between Kansas and Missouri. Moses v. Halstead, 2009 WL 2857187 (10th Cir. Sept. 8, 2009), holds that Kansas law supplies the rule of decision in regard to a third-party action for negligent or bad-faith refusal to settle.
The case has its origins in a November 22, 1996, automobile accident in the State of Missouri. The accident involved a car owned by Moses’ father and driven by Chris Halstead. Allstate Insurance had issued to Moses’ father, a Kansas resident, in the…

