The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every aspect of our lives, and the legal system is no exception. Court hearings went from being in-person to virtual, and court dockets swelled as cases were postponed. In 2023, the legal...more
On October 25, 2022, the Supreme Court of Georgia answered a certified question from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals concerning Georgia’s insurable interest statute, OCGA § 33-24-3 (1995)....more
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, D.C. Docket No. 1:17-cv-03857-WMR. On February 4, 2022, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit certified two...more
An insurer can no longer claim its lack of notice of a lawsuit against its insured excuses it for failing to settle the suit after the Georgia Supreme Court’s recent decision in GEICO Indemnity Co. v. Whiteside, Case No....more
Federal Court in Georgia Applies Hoover Rule Finding that Insurers Who Sent Denial Letters Waived Right to Assert Other Coverage Defenses Later. Eight years ago in Hoover v. Maxum Indemnity Co., 730 S.E.2d 413 (Ga. 2012),...more
Last week, the Georgia Supreme Court confirmed that an insurance carrier’s duty to settle a claim against its policyholder arises only after an injured claimant presents a “valid offer” to settle within policy limits. In...more
A victory for insurers in Georgia’s Supreme Court clarifies state law on liability for failing to settle a claim. Our Insurance Litigation & Regulatory Team offers three key holdings that will limit an insurer’s potential...more
On March 11, 2019, the Georgia Supreme Court provided a victory for insurers when it found that an insurer did not act in bad faith by failing to accept a policy limits demand that lacked a deadline to respond and was...more
An insurance company named as a garnishee in a garnishment action is not a “financial institution” under Georgia’s garnishment statute when the garnishment is seeking earnings owed to its current or former employees....more
In a two-paragraph opinion following oral argument, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a District Court’s judgment that Nationwide was liable for either negligent or bad faith failure to settle a claim. The trial...more
In prior blog posts, I’ve covered developments in the putative class actions against insurance companies in Georgia involving diminution in value on property insurance claims (see my March 11, 2016 post, for example)....more
A while back, I wrote about a Georgia Supreme Court decision, Royal Capital Development LLC v. Maryland Casualty Co., that held that diminution in value of real property is potentially covered under a property insurance...more
As we previously reported here, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit asked the Georgia Supreme Court to weigh in on the coverage dispute in Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. v. XL Specialty Insurance Co....more