A court's first step in a declaratory judgment action concerning insurance coverage is to determine the scope of the policy's coverage. An injured party may assert a counterclaim for declaratory judgment directly against the tortfeasor's insurer while an underlying tort claim is pending.4. A court's first step in a declaratory judgment action concerning insurance coverage is to determine the scope of the policy's coverage. In Hearn, the insured sought a declaratory judgment that it did not have a duty to defend the insured where the underlying complaint alleged,. Anthony P. DeMichele obtained summary judgment for an insurance company in a coverage dispute involving one of its insureds. Plaintiff's declaratory judgment action seeks to determine the validity of the settlement agreement between State Farm and Ms. Bardo. The Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201(a), provides that in "a case of actual controversy within its jurisdiction . . . Any court of the United States . District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on. Declaratory Judgment Complaint ("DJC"),.
