Kathryn Ashton | Clyde & Co. In March 2021, an appellate court decision clarified what the law has always been in California; that to find an insurer liable for bad faith, the insured (or its assignee or a judgment creditor) must plead and prove the insurer acted unreasonably or without proper cause. California’s standardized jury… Continue reading An Insurer Is Not Subject to Strict Liability for the Failure to Accept a Reasonable Settlement
Category: Bad Faith
Keeping the Cap On the Policy: Unreasonable Conduct Is a Necessary Element of a “Bad Faith Failure to Settle” Claim
Jared K. LeBeau | Sheppard Mullin Pinto v. Farmers Ins. Exch., ___ Cal. App. 5th ___ (2021) Over the past several years, the insurance industry in California has been plagued by waves of “bad faith failure to settle” claims. These claims arise out of a variety of circumstances and can take many forms, but at… Continue reading Keeping the Cap On the Policy: Unreasonable Conduct Is a Necessary Element of a “Bad Faith Failure to Settle” Claim
Bad Faith Termination for Convenience
Patrick Tighe | Snell & Wilmer Many construction contracts include a clause that allows an owner to terminate a contractor’s remaining work on a project at the owner’s convenience. And during a global pandemic and these turbulent economic times, termination for convenience clauses are receiving renewed attention, including under what circumstances an owner may not… Continue reading Bad Faith Termination for Convenience
Minnesota Supreme Court’s First Opinion on the State’s Bad Faith Statute
J. Kent Crocker | Carlton Fields The Minnesota Supreme Court in the matter of Alison Joel Peterson v. Western National Mutual Insurance Company, 946 N.W.2d 903 (Minn. 2020) opined for the first time on the state’s bad faith statute (Minn. Stat. § 604.18) and weighed in on the interpretation of the two prongs contained within the… Continue reading Minnesota Supreme Court’s First Opinion on the State’s Bad Faith Statute
Minnesota Supreme Court Issues Ruling on First-Party Bad Faith Statute
Gina M. Foran | Duane Morris The Minnesota Supreme Court issued its long-anticipated ruling regarding the requirements an insured must prove in order to satisfy the state’s first party bad faith statute. Minn. Stat. § 604.18 creates a direct cause of action by an insured against its insurer if the insurer fails to act in… Continue reading Minnesota Supreme Court Issues Ruling on First-Party Bad Faith Statute