From 2019 to 2022, the Florida Legislature enacted four separate property insurance reforms that sought to rein in abusive property insurance litigation fueled by one-way attorney’s fee shifting and an army of professional...more
Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal recently affirmed a summary judgment entered in favor of a property insurer, holding that there is no conflict between the policy’s three year limitation for reporting hurricane claims...more
For the fourth time since 2019, the Florida Legislature has enacted property insurance reforms aimed towards stabilizing a beleaguered insurance market. The bill, S.B. 2-A, creates a reinsurance assistance program,...more
12/16/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Bad Faith ,
Breach of Contract ,
Flood Insurance ,
Florida ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Insurance Reform ,
Insurance Regulations ,
Property Insurance ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
In two recent cases, the courts showed substantial deference to patients’ treating physicians in determining the reasonableness of medical treatment. This deference appears to reflect a reluctance of courts to decide what...more
The key issue in insurance bad faith litigation is whether the claims professional reasonably handled the claim. Throughout the claims-handling process, the claims professional should constantly ask him-or-herself whether the...more
In Part I of this series, we explored the differences between institutional and non-institutional bad faith. For claims of institutional bad faith, plaintiffs often attempt to demonstrate a pattern and practice by offering...more
In Part I of this series, we discussed institutional bad faith and best practices for insurers to minimize the risk of these costly and intrusive lawsuits. In Part II, we will focus on cutting discovery off at the...more
11/20/2019
/ Bad Faith ,
Defense Strategies ,
Discovery ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
FRCP 26 ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Plausibility Standard ,
Pleading Standards ,
Twombly/Iqbal Pleading Standard
Broadly speaking, there are two types of bad faith claims that may be alleged against an insurance company - traditional or non-institutional bad faith, and institutional bad faith. For the former, a policyholder would seek...more
The Florida Legislature recently created a right of contribution among liability insurers for defense costs. Prior to the enactment of this legislation, it was long the law in Florida that there was no right to contribution...more