To combat a perceived litigation tactic by plaintiffs counsel of using settlement demands within policy limits to set up insurers for bad faith, insurance company associations lobbied for statutory clarification to avoid...more
The general rule regarding a party’s responsibility for legal fees in U.S. courts, known as the “American Rule,” provides that, barring a contrary contractual obligation or statute, each party is responsible for its own legal...more
The Oregon Supreme Court, in Long v. Farmers Insurance Company of Oregon, ruled that “when an insured files an action against an insurer to recover sums owing on an insurance policy and the insurer subsequently pays the...more
Does the efficient proximate cause rule serve to afford coverage for the additional costs to rebuild the foundation of a home in compliance with changed building code requirements beyond the sublimit of liability of an...more
Like most jurisdictions, New Jersey allows parties to an insurance contract to shorten the six-year statute of limitations for contract actions. See N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1 (“Every action at law . . . for recovery upon a...more
The background of this case is that Boomerang Recoveries LLC, a reinsurance program review company, investigated Farmers Insurance Company’s reinsurance contracts to identify any premiums Farmers had been overcharged in...more
In recent weeks, two courts ruled on motions to dismiss the first wave of class action lawsuits based on alleged price optimization of auto insurance rates. In both Stevenson v. Allstate Ins. Co., No. 15-cv-04788 (N.D. Cal....more
Many insurers have a longstanding practice of paying claims adjusters a set weekly salary, regardless of the number of hours they actually work. The practice has support in federal labor regulations; the regulations...more