Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Company has settled a state class action case, Press v. Louisiana Citizens Fair Plan Property Insurance Corp., for failing to fully pay overhead and profit to insureds. The proposed settlement, for $23 million, covers claims from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Continue Reading...The United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation issued a Transfer Order yesterday in which it consolidated economic, environmental and personal injury cases arising out of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill.
Continue Reading...The Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula slab cases are settling. There was an agreement between the Texas attorneys that nothing would come out in the press until the clients signed the agreements. Since even the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) participated with a press release, I assume that the gentlemen's confidentiality agreement to wait on telling everybody publicly that a settlement has been reached, even before clients have signed the releases, no longer applies. The vast majority of my clients have only received letters from our firm, and I am awaiting final figures from TWIA so that we can consummate the deal. I hope everybody is not optimistically jumping the gun.
Continue Reading...The oil spill attorneys advertising for a mass of clients and recent advertisements in Texas regarding Hurricane Ike claims, seem to indicate that all my colleagues always win, and win big. Nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is that if you are going to trial or push for what should fully be paid, at least one party to the litigation will lose and, sometimes, lose after a lot of money is offered to settle. Everybody loves to talk about their wins. Losses happen, and I am reminded of that bitterness and horrible feeling of injustice every now and then.
Continue Reading...Jay MacDonald, of Bankrate.com, read a number of our posts and interviewed me regarding insurance coverage issues pertaining the BP Oil Spill. In his insurance blog post, Will Homeowners Insurance Absorb Oil?, he noted a number of my observations concerning the major issues facing policyholder insurance claims resulting from the BP Oil Spill:
Continue Reading...On Bloomberg, I gave a television interview regarding the legal and financial aspect of claims and lawsuits which are being generated as a result of the BP Oil Spill. Lost profit and business interruption claims and disputes are not novel to those of us with commercial first party insurance claims experience. Every Sunday, Michelle Claverol, in our Coral Gables office, posts about lost profit cases, which often involve complex accounting and economic issues. The BP Oil Spill is causing an epidemic of these financial loss claims, which will largely be brought as third party claims under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.
Continue Reading...The Destin beach’s white sugar sand was in full glory yesterday. While flying back to Tampa and looking down on the crystal blue water and the most gorgeous stretch of beach in the United States, I told Corey Harris that such beauty and fun is being wasted because of fear caused by the oil spill. A funny YouTube video about the current threat of oil and dragons makes the point:
The tragedy of loss of human life and damage to the environment when discussing the BP Oil Spill cannot be overstated. The important role that accountants and business interruption experts will play helping prove financial loss cannot be overstated either. Experienced professionals like Bob Glasser, noted in yesterday’s Are Lawyers Pandering for BP Oil Spill Clients Going to Get Sued for Malpractice in Follow-up Class Actions? A Guest Blog Regarding Business Claims By Bob Glasser Explains and Guest Blogger Bruce Smith, who wrote The Forensic Accountant's Role In Business Interruption And Business Income Claims, should be in high demand from businesses and entities that lose revenue and income as a result of this oil spill. Attorneys presenting these lost income claims should consider hiring such individuals as consultants and financial expert witnesses.
Continue Reading...There has been a disgraceful amount of pandering by potentially incompetent lawyers to sign up BP Spill Victims. Many of these lawyers are experienced only in personal injury cases, and many are not licensed in the affected states and are using the internet to lure clients. One attorney from California, who is not licensed in Florida, gave a seminar this week in Destin, Florida, about his services. Many of these attorneys have no intention of providing sound disaster recovery advice that accountants and other experienced attorneys can provide. The "elephant in the room" is that they do not have the experience or resources to give competent legal advice but are banking on contingent percentage contracts that obligate clients to sums far in excess of what is reasonable. These attorneys do not have the competence or experience to discuss business interruption concepts because they have never practiced in this area of the law. Many attorneys are advertising and signing up clients without then doing anything that is reasonably required under the circumstances.
Continue Reading...It appears that BP and others involved in the current oil spill may be taking their cues from insurance carriers. Insurers have always hedged their bets by saying that they would pay “legitimate claims” after disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the Northridge Earthquake. This is a brilliant public relations strategy. It allows top executives to go on television and tell the world that the company cares and will do whatever it can to make people whole again. It leaves the general public with a warm and fuzzy feeling of security, even when the insurer has absolutely no intention of promptly and fully paying the full amount of damages owed.
Continue Reading...I have seen this look before. Panic and loss have a certain emotional face where people need compassion and then a plan. Over my only meal of the day late last night, I told my client, Dewey Destin and his wife that I felt proud to be an American and part of the Gulf Coast community because of the way people were responding to very dire circumstances. Fishermen were volunteering and politely demanding that their knowledge of local waters be used to help mitigate the impact of oil. Engineers were suggesting ingenious methods of oil prevention and clean up. Local leaders such as State Senator Don Gaetz and Florida DEP Secretary Mike Sole were candid and helpful with these requests.
Continue Reading...Our firm has been receiving calls from a large number of Florida condominium associations over the past few days regarding the increasing problems associated with the oil spill that is plaguing the gulf coast. I have a personal connection to this growing crisis. I spent a large portion of my life in Destin, Florida, and part of my family still lives and works in the area. Late last night, I flew to the panhandle to see what our firm could do to help.
Continue Reading...The Merlin Law Group has been responding to inquiries from potential, current and former clients who have contacted its offices with concerns about the effect of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill on their properties and businesses. These inquiries are wide ranging. Most are asking about preparation issues to prevent damage as well as legal help documenting damage and the law firm’s representation of them for those claims.
Continue Reading...I hate to make doomsday predictions, but there is a possibility that the BP Oil Spill could be worse than any hurricane or catastrophe that I have been involved with. I spent yesterday speaking with others about the current situation. Indeed, my father teaches those in the oil industry how to recover and react to oil spills. Unless the source of the oil is stopped or slows down soon, oil is going to be all over the northern Gulf Coast and Florida. If the spill cannot be contained or slowed in the near future, it will significantly impact our economy.
Continue Reading...A number of former and current clients have called our offices about the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. They have expressed fear about damages to their business and property, as well as actions that they can take take to protect themselves from the consequences of this disaster. We have already been retained for business losses as customers of clients are cancelling plans for travel to the Gulf Coast. If something does not change soon, this disaster will likely be much worse than most hurricanes. It has the potential to be worse than any of them.
Continue Reading...Houston Chronicle reporter, Purva Patel, filed an article, "They Want ‘Profits' of Ike," noting that Hurricane Ike policyholders who have wrongfully been denied payments for expected costs of general contractor overhead and profit are bringing their actions in class action lawsuits. Our law firm has filed some of these cases with Javier Delgado taking the lead. Javier was noted in the article:
Continue Reading...Following yesterday’s post, What is a Bad Faith Claim? Or, When Does an Insurance Claim Wrongfully Handled Become a Bad Faith Claim?, there were a couple of posts suggesting that class action lawsuits were the answer to wrongful claims practices. Frankly, most policyholders are more successful financially with individual cases than through class action cases in insurance matters. Many class settlements are nothing other than the insurer buying its way out of a bigger mess and paying off attorneys looking for a big payday. Our firm is very selective about class matters because of the “good for the attorney’s pocket versus bad for the client’s pocket” conflict.
Continue Reading...I once told an Allstate Insurance Company adjuster that if forced, I was going to sue over a very small matter, less than a thousand dollars, because it simply was not right that Allstate was taking “betterment” deductions on the adjustment of an automobile comprehensive coverage loss to a friend of mine. This small county court case eventually resulted in a significant class action settlement in Florida in excess of $20 million dollars. I have no idea why some insurance companies do not try to settle earlier and would rather wait until the information uncovered results in a bad situation getting worse. Unfortunately, unless the litigation fortunes of one public adjusting company changes dramatically on appeal, a seven thousand dollar fee dispute could cost many public adjusters millions in class action lawsuits.
Continue Reading...Throughout U.S. history insurers have routinely discriminated against minorities. Discriminatory treatment included such practices as charging minorities higher rates, offering minorities policies with inferior coverage, not returning calls for information from minority applicants or denying minorities coverage altogether. Homeowners insurance redlining is a form of this discrimination where an insurance agency or agent treats homeowners differently not necessarily because of their minority status, but because of the minority composition of the neighborhood their home is located in.
Continue Reading...A Broward County Court has approved a class action settlement on behalf of more than 12,000 State Farm Insurance policyholders in Florida who will receive 100 percent of the damages they requested in a $6.8 million settlement of claims filed last year in which they alleged the insurer refused to pay replacement costs of screen enclosures damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma, attorneys for the plaintiffs announced. Read more....
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