Breaking Down Bad Faith: Insurers’ Good Faith Duties and Defending Bad Faith Claims
An Uncompromising Insurer: What is a Policyholder to Do?
Hinshaw Insurance Law TV: Recent Changes in Florida Property Insurance Law and How They Will Affect First Party Insurance
Podcast - The Briefing from the IP Law Blog: Lord of The Rings Author’s Estate Clings to its Precious Trademark, Blocking JRR Token
The Briefing from the IP Law Blog: Lord of The Rings Author’s Estate Clings to its Precious Trademark, Blocking JRR Token
Butler's Thursday Tips #7 | Civil Remedy Notices
Subro Sense Podcast - Considerations In Fixed Funds/Limited Pool Scenarios
Protecting Your Brand in China
The start of 2024 marked the end of an insurance era in Oregon. On December 29, 2023—the last Friday before the new year—the Oregon Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decision in Moody v. Oregon Community Credit Union,...more
While it is well known that an insured has a clear and convincing standard of proving bad faith in order to recover such damages, it is lesser recognized that an insured does not have to prove outrageous conduct or evil...more
The United States District Court for the Southern District of California, applying California law, has held that a professional liability insurer acted in bad faith by unreasonably maintaining its position that its policy did...more
Throughout 2022, Sheppard Mullin’s insurance practice group demonstrated excellence in all stages of litigation, continuing to solidify its role as trusted counsel to the nation’s leading insurers, including Liberty Mutual,...more
Southern District Holds That Claim For Unjust Enrichment Not Covered Claim For “Property Damage”- The owners of a Manhattan apartment hired Zale Contracting to renovate their apart-ment. After the apartment’s sprinkler...more
Court Dismisses Claims Against Insurer For Bad Faith Failure To Settle, And For Consequential And Punitive Damages- Scottsdale issued a policy to Watershed Ventures, LLC, which included Directors and Officers Liability...more
Recently, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Lindenberg v. Jackson Nat’l Life Ins. Co., 912 F.3d 348 (6th Cir. 2018), ruled that a plaintiff may recover both bad faith damages and punitive damages...more
A Raleigh jewelry store recently lost its bid to prove coverage, bad faith and punitive damages in a classic case of seemingly strong evidence but actually nothing-burger evidence. In Michael Borovsky Goldsmith, LLC v....more
New Jersey legislators are working to enact a law that will provide policyholders with potentially punishing recourse if their insurance carriers mishandle their claims for benefits....more
The Georgia Court of Appeals recently made waves in Hughes v. First Acceptance Insurance Company of Georgia, Inc., 343 Ga. App. 693 (2017). First, it aggrandized the role of a jury in determining the existence of an offer to...more
The Ninth Circuit recently issued an unpublished memorandum opinion reducing a $2.5 million punitive award against GEICO to $1,064,282.44—four times the compensatory damages—in a Montana insurance bad-faith case. When it...more
The California Court of Appeal recently published another opinion about the Nickerson v. Stonebridge Life Insurance case. The court held to its maximum 10:1 punitive-to-compensatory-damages ratio and analyzed whether this...more
This past June the California Supreme Court issued its decision in Nickerson v. Stonebridge Life Insurance Company, 63 Cal.4th 363 (2016), holding that post-trial Brandt fees could be included in the damage calculus for...more
In Nickerson v. Stonebridge Life Ins. Co. (No. B234271A, filed 11/3/16), (“Nickerson II”) a California appeals court outlined the requirements for complying with the single-digit multiplier annunciated as a Constitutional...more
In Brandt v. Superior Court, the California Supreme Court held that when a plaintiff proves that an insurance company withheld policy benefits in bad faith, attorneys' fees reasonably incurred to compel payment of the...more
On June 9, 2016, the California Supreme Court issued its decision in Nickerson v. Stonebridge Life Insurance Co., holding that so-called Brandt fees should be treated as compensatory damages when calculating the ratio of...more
Kennedy v. Allstate, No. 15-2221 (E.D. Pa. July 8, 2015). District Court recognizes possibility that insurance adjusters owe a duty of care to insureds that would be breached by failing to conduct a reasonable...more
Eighth Circuit: No Bad Faith Where Insured Failed to Make a Sufficient Demand and Insurer Refused to Entertain Settlement Offer Prior to Completing Investigation - Purscell v. Tico Ins. Co., No. 13-2362, 2015 WL 3855253...more
As this blog has repeatedly documented, it can be hard for insurers to assert the attorney-client privilege in the context of bad faith litigation. One difficulty arises in states that enforce a presumption against the...more
As a matter of public policy, Pennsylvania (like a number of other states) prohibits insuring against punitive damages. But what happens if an insurer refuses to settle a case against a policyholder within policy limits and...more
Fourth Circuit Allows Punitive Damages Against Insurer For Bad Faith Despite Lack Of Actual Damages - Why it matters: A policyholder is not required to prove ascertainable damages to be entitled to an award of...more
The California Court of Appeal, in a 2-to-1 decision, has reaffirmed the constitutional limitations on the amount of punitive damages a jury may award against an insurer. In Nickerson v. Stonebridge Life Insurance Company,...more
In This Issue: - Southern District Of Ohio: Insurer Does Not Commit Bad Faith By Voiding Policy Due To Insured’s Failure To Promptly And Fully Cooperate With Insurer’s Fire Investigation - Pennsylvania Court...more