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Bad Faith

Nov 6, 2019

Jury awards $1.76M in bad faith case

  A Guilford County jury has awarded $1.76 million to an insurance company which alleged that another insurer bungled a personal injury lawsuit in South Carolina federal court, leading to a $3.76 million mid-trial settlement. The case began with an October 2014 wreck in Marlboro County, South Carolina, in which a 61-year-old man and his […]

Jul 2, 2018

Attorneys – Attorney-Client Privilege – Insurance – Bad Faith Claim – Claim Files – Certified Question

  Because plaintiffs established a prima facie case of bad faith failure to insure, and because the defendant-insurer in its answer denied bad faith liability, the district court ruled that the insured waived the attorney-client privilege with respect to the attorney-client communications in the insurer’s claim files, to the extent such communications are relevant under […]

Feb 28, 2018

Bankruptcy – Bad-faith filing not proved by isolated factors

Holding: Even if a debtor filed for bankruptcy in response to a judgment against him and possessed significant assets, the district court did not err in finding that the debtor did not file for bankruptcy in bad faith. Background Appellee Peter Romero, a former U.S. Ambassador, filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition after he was found […]

Jan 5, 2018

Race to the courthouse void due to bad faith

  A Greensboro company acted in a bad faith when it raced to the courthouse to file a voluntary dismissal of its complaint mere hours after a judge had granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss their claims, and before the defendants’ counsel had a chance to draft a written order for the judge to sign, […]

Oct 26, 2016

Attorneys – Sanctions – Bad Faith – Evidence – Arbitration – Predatory Loans

Dillon v. BMO Harris Bank, N.A. (Lawyers Weekly No. 003-018-16, 63 pp.) (Catherine Eagles, J.) 1:13-cv-00897; M.D.N.C. Holding: Plaintiff’s counsel hid the existence of plaintiff’s copy of a loan agreement for almost two years, all the while challenging the authenticity of a defendant’s identical copy of the same agreement, thereby causing an unnecessary appeal. Had […]

Feb 4, 2015

Auto insurer settles bad-faith lawsuit for $2.75M

An insurance company that balked over paying benefits to a husband and wife killed in a 2010 car crash will now have to pay up a second time. The couple’s adult children have settled a bad-faith lawsuit against the insurer for $2.75 million after the company initially refused to pay benefits owed to the family, […]

Oct 30, 2014

Bankruptcy — Exemptions – Fraud – No Statutory Grounds

In re Caillaud (Lawyers Weekly No. 14-05-1010, 9 pp.) (J. Craig Whitley, J.) 13-30835; W.B.N.C. Holding: Even though the facts strongly suggest that the debtor attempted (1) to mislead her creditors, the trustee and this court, (2) to convert estate property, and (3) to abuse the safe harbors of the bankruptcy system, since this case […]

Aug 1, 2014

Nationwide pays $750K to settle bad faith claim

For 19 years, Carl Johnson thought the so-called “blanket” insurance policy he had on his farm would protect him from any claims related to his work on or off the field.

Jun 26, 2012

Civil Practice – Statute of Limitations – Tort/Negligence – Conversion Claim – Accrual Date – Judgment Debtor – RICO – Voluntary Dismissal – Bad Faith

Eubank v. Van-Riel A New York attorney had a $100,000+ judgment against plaintiff. Plaintiff’s state-law claims against defendants arose when plaintiff learned that defendants had paid the New York attorney $30,000 that defendants owed to plaintiff. Although the New York attorney temporarily returned the funds to defendants in order to complete the steps necessary to comply with New Yor[...]

Nov 16, 2010

Chicago Title pays church $698,000 on $100,000 policy

Andrew Fitzgerald's (pictured) first foray into title insurance was over a half-million-dollar success. He was hired by Reynolda Presbyterian Church in Winston-Salem to sue Chicago Title Insurance Company after the insurer allegedly failed to defend the church against claims its neighbors brought against it. The church housed its administrative offices in "Harper House," which was situated on one [...]

Oct 13, 2010

Criminal Practice – Exculpatory Evidence – Video – Destruction of Evidence – Bad Faith

State v. Absher. The defendant made numerous requests for specific items of evidence that were favorable to him and material to his defense, and the state failed to provide the evidence, destroyed it and then stated it could not be produced. A flagrant violation of the defendant's constitutional rights occurred, and dismissal was appropriate.

Sep 27, 2010

Costs, fees awarded to insurer in deceptive trade practices case

The plaintiff, Dr. John Redden, a retired chiropractor, was involved in a motor vehicle accident on May 19, 2005, on U.S. Highway 70 near Salisbury. Redden was in a line of traffic that was stopped for a vehicle ahead of him to make a left-hand turn. The defendant, Gail Heggans McClain, admitted coming over the […]

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