My blog post from March 2018 addressed a presentation I was involved in which addressed the attorney’s role during the adjustment of a claim. As addressed in that blog post, the line can quickly become blurred between an attorney acting in his/her role as counsel and acting as the claims adjuster for the insurance company.… Continue Reading
In past blogs I’ve talked about rulings and the trend across the country where courts are deeming work product privilege in bad faith litigation for the claims attorney to be incorrect and so their work product is discoverable. Courts are ruling that just because an attorney for the insurance company is on a file and … Continue Reading
Recently, while going through the insurance company claim file on two cases, I saw references to a coverage opinion letter from a lawyer (or referencing emails shared between the adjuster and an attorney about coverage). These communications occurred in the claims handling process before the claim was denied and before the policyholder hired me as … Continue Reading
This is a question I was asked recently so I thought I would answer it here. In this case, the insured made a claim for hail damage done to the roof. The insurance company investigated the claim and hired an Engineer to inspect the property. The Engineer drafted a report and provided it to the … Continue Reading
In March I blogged about a Washington case that held an insurer’s communications with their attorney used to determine a denial of a policyholder’s claim was not privileged. In National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburg v. TransCanada Energy USA, Inc.,1 a New York appellate court continues the trend. Although every state’s insurance laws differ, … Continue Reading
Generally, any communication between an attorney and client is privileged. I often tell clients that when they want to talk about their claim by someone, they should talk to their attorney only so as not to break any privilege issues. Although I know sometimes discussing the claim outside the attorney-client relationship is a must, those … Continue Reading
While reviewing an insurer’s claim denial letter yesterday, it occurred to me that it was time to remind folks of a few things: (1) loss reports, estimates, and the like prepared in the ordinary course of an insurer’s routine claim investigation are rarely work product immune and should be produced to the insured and/or the … Continue Reading
Last week, in Genovese v. Provident Life and Accident Insurance Company, No. 06-2508, — So.3d —-, 2011 WL 903988 (Fla. March 17, 2011), the Florida Supreme Court resolved the following issue: DOES THE FLORIDA SUPREME COURT’S HOLDING IN ALLSTATE INDEMNITY CO. V. RUIZ, 899 So.2d 1121 (Fla.2005), RELATING TO DISCOVERY OF WORK PRODUCT IN FIRST-PARTY BAD … Continue Reading
The anticipation of litigation is the trigger used in Florida to determine when a party to an action can claim a work-product privilege in connection with a documents production.… Continue Reading
Last week’s post, The Big Picture in Discovery of Insurer Claims Practices, discussed a case from the Supreme Court of Kentucky that provided an overview of how Courts tie together various principles of discovery that are generally raised in the discovery of bad faith cases. General rules of bad faith discovery vary between states and … Continue Reading
Almost every attorney has filed a Motion to Compel regarding discovery. Sure, we’ve won some. Of course, we’ve lost some. And we’ve all gotten the “granted in part and denied in part.” But how many times has your motion to compel been granted in a bad faith case? When has the court ordered your insurer … Continue Reading
