Bad faith and consequential damages has long been a thorn in the New York plaintiff attorney’s side as they are virtually impossible to recover in most breach of contract actions. Recently, one plaintiff was able to recover attorney’s fees and costs by meeting the stringent standard set forth by New York case law.… Continue Reading
Back on November 7 of last year (2017), I wrote about an important opinion in the world of property insurance litigation, Joyce v. Federated National Insurance Company,1 where the Florida Supreme Court reaffirmed that you could still obtain a contingency-fee multiplier where justified under Quanstrom and in so doing reversed the Fifth District Court of … Continue Reading
William and Judith Joyce filed a claim with their insurer, Federated National, after suffering water damage to their home. Instead of agreeing to cover the loss, Federated National denied the Joyces’ claim alleging they made material misrepresentations on their insurance application by failing to disclose prior losses they had with their previous carrier.… Continue Reading
There are many rumors going around about House Bill 1774, better known as “The Hail Bill” or “The Blue Tarp Bill,” which will go into effect on September 1, 2017. It is important to debunk those rumors and explain exactly what the bill means to Texas policyholders and their rights in this state.… Continue Reading
On May 7 and May 25, 2017, I wrote about Texas House Bill 1774/Senate Bill 10 that adds significant hurdles to policyholders who want to dispute weather-related property damage claims. On May 26, 2017, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the bill into law and it will now go into effect on September 1, 2017.… Continue Reading
Most states follow the “American Rule” when it comes to litigation. In other words, absent a specific statute or contractual provision to the contrary, each party pays their own legal costs and fees. However, the Oklahoma legislature passed, and on May 10, 2017, the governor signed into law, a bill which, in essence, abolished the … Continue Reading
Introduced on February 13, 2017, Texas House Bill 1774/Senate Bill 10, has been proposed by its sponsors as a way to curb hail storm lawsuit abuse. However, if signed into law, the bill could have a negative impact on Texas policyholders who have suffered any type of property damage relating to a natural disaster, hail … Continue Reading
On September 29, 2016, the Florida Supreme Court reaffirmed Florida’s protection for policyholders. In Johnson v. Omega Insurance Company,1 the Florida Supreme Court shredded insurance companies’ attempts to require malice before a policyholder is entitled to attorneys’ fees and costs under Florida Statute 627.428.… Continue Reading
If an HOA is sued pertaining to a dispute over property damage, and the opposing party prevails and obtains an award of attorney fees, does the HOA’s liability insurance policy cover the attorney fee award? According to a recent district court decision in Hawaii, the answer is yes.… Continue Reading
On May 5th, I blogged about an important case pending before the California Supreme Court—Nickerson v. Stonebridge Life Insurance Company—that was set to address an important issue for policyholders forced to sue their insurers for bad faith and punitive damages. You can check out my prior blog addressing the issues in the case here.… Continue Reading
The California Supreme Court heard oral argument recently on an issue that is important to insurance policyholders forced to sue their insurers for bad faith and punitive damages: Whether an award of attorney fees should be included as compensatory damages for purposes of calculating the ratio between punitive and compensatory damages. The case is Nickerson … Continue Reading
A recent Florida case involved insureds whose home was insured by Citizens. On May 25, 2012, the home was damaged by water escaping from a broken plumbing system.1 Citizens’ adjuster inspected the home and noticed that the driveway and interior flooring had been trenched and the underground plumbing system had been removed by a plumbing … Continue Reading
The Standard Flood Insurance Policy (SFIP) provides that policyholders are to be covered for “direct physical loss by or from flood.”1 However, what about compensation for damages such as attorney’s fees, costs and interest? This issue was recently addressed by the federal district court in New Jersey. In Ryan v. Selective Insurance Company of America,2 … Continue Reading
When you are dealing with damage to a client’s property and attempting to recover insurance proceeds, one of the first questions raised is in reference to attorneys’ fees. The client wants to know if the party that has wronged them will be responsible for their costs and expenses in recovering the insurance proceeds. Unfortunately, New … Continue Reading
Florida law allows first-party claimants to recover attorneys’ fees in the event litigation is required for an insured to be made whole.1 New Jersey has a similar rule with a dramatic difference. New Jersey Rule 4:42-9(a)(6) provides: (a) Actions in Which Fee Is Allowable. No fee for legal services shall be allowed in the taxed … Continue Reading
Policyholders and their advocates are fully aware that authorized carriers may be found liable for attorneys’ fees under Florida Statute 627.428, which provides: (1) Upon the rendition of a judgment or decree by any of the courts of this state against an insurer and in favor of any named or omnibus insured or the named … Continue Reading
The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) is Florida’s public entity for resolving claims for certain insolvent insurers. FIGA is controlled mostly by statute, and attorney’s fees are no exception. Generally, under Florida Statute § 627.428, attorney’s fees are available for an insured who succeeds on legal action against his or her insurance company. However, Florida … Continue Reading
Many policyholders face a thorny dilemma in disputing their insurance claim because of the fees and costs associated with litigation and the appraisal process. Even when a policyholder prevails and proves an insurer underpaid or a wrongfully denied a claim, the net recovery is reduced by litigation fees that were necessitated to obtain the benefits.… Continue Reading
On January 19th, the Florida Supreme Court issued its opinion in Petty v. Florida Insurance Guaranty Association, which decided whether an insured is entitled to recover attorney’s fees from the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA). I wrote about the case in October 2010, when it was at the lower appellate level, in The Definition of … Continue Reading
Just last week, Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeals held that the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (“FIGA”) wrongly denied a policyholder’s claim and was obligated to pay attorney’s fees and costs. In Rahabi v. FIGA, the appellate court distinguished the holding from its earlier case, FIGA v. Ehrlich, which was just decided in May of … Continue Reading
Clients often ask me if it is possible to recover attorney fees when they bring an action in California against their insurance company. I let them know it is possible to recover attorney fees, if bad faith is at issue.… Continue Reading
In the case of R.D. Offutt Co. v. Lexington Ins. Co., 494 F.3d 668 (8th Cir. 2007), the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the award of an insured attorney fees, even though the insured was unsuccessful in its bad faith claim against the insurance company. The decision arose from the insured’s breach of contract … Continue Reading
Whether a policyholder’s lawsuit against an insurer was necessary to resolve a first party claims dispute can be an important question for Florida courts in determining an insured right to attorney’s fees pursuant to Florida Statute 627.428. Florida Statute 627.428 is intended to encourage insurers to pay policyholders the claim proceeds they are entitled to … Continue Reading
In Florida, the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA), was created by statute to pay claims to policyholders if their insurers become insolvent. The FIGA Act, §631.54(3) defines a covered claim as: [A]n unpaid claim, including one of unearned premiums, which arises out of, and is within the coverage, and not in excess of, the applicable limits … Continue Reading
