On March 8, 2021 the California Court of Appeal, reversing a $10 million verdict against Farmers, found that a jury must specifically find unreasonable acts by an insurer to support a “failure to settle” bad faith finding.  Pinto v. Farmers …

A Jury Must Find An Insurer Acted Unreasonably In Order To Find Bad Faith Failure to Settle Read more »

Illinois does not recognize bad faith as an independent tort. In the first-party context, bad faith is a purely statutory construct which hinges upon whether an insurer’s conduct was “vexatious and unreasonable.” Section 155 of the Illinois Insurance Code (215 …

Tips for Avoiding First-Party “Bad Faith” in Illinois Read more »

In two recent cases, the courts showed substantial deference to patients’ treating physicians in determining the reasonableness of medical treatment. This deference appears to reflect a reluctance of courts to decide what healthcare is appropriate for a patient. In Peterson …

Recent Bad Faith Cases Regarding Reasonableness of Medical Treatment Read more »

The key issue in insurance bad faith litigation is whether the claims professional reasonably handled the claim. Throughout the claims-handling process, the claims professional should constantly ask him-or-herself whether the investigation is sufficient to support a coverage determination and how …

Claims Handling: Questions Are the Answer Read more »

In Part I of this series, we explored the differences between institutional and non-institutional bad faith. For claims of institutional bad faith, plaintiffs often attempt to demonstrate a pattern and practice by offering evidence of claims of other policyholders. Unlike …

Defending Institutional Bad Faith Claims, Part III – Proof by Other Claims Read more »

In Part I of this series, we discussed institutional bad faith and best practices for insurers to minimize the risk of these costly and intrusive lawsuits. In Part II, we will focus on cutting discovery off at the pleadings—by narrowing …

Defending Institutional Bad Faith Claims, Part II – Focusing on Plausibility Read more »

Broadly speaking, there are two types of bad faith claims that may be alleged against an insurance company—traditional or non-institutional bad faith, and institutional bad faith. For the former, a policyholder would seek to hold an insurer liable for its …

Defending Institutional Bad Faith Claims, Part I – A Primer on Institutional Bad Faith Read more »

A bad faith claim against an insurer often focuses as much on the process of a claims investigation as it does on the substance of a claims decision itself. If the coverage decision was wrong (but not unreasonable), and the …

Form and Substance: The Importance of Conducting a Proper Investigation of First-Party Claims Under California Law Read more »

On March 18, 2019, the First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a decision holding that Sedgwick Claims Management Services made reasonable and prompt efforts to settle a nursing home liability claim, and therefore was not liable for a $14M excess …

Massachusetts: Third-Party Claim Handler Made Reasonable, Prompt Efforts to Settle Nursing Home Liability Claim, and Therefore Was Not Liable For $14 M Excess Verdict Read 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 First Acceptance Insurance Company of …

Georgia Supreme Court Spares Insurance Company from a $5.3 Million Bad-Faith Verdict Read more »