Automotive and Trucking Accidents in the U.S. with Foreign Defendants: What Insurers Need to Know
Butler's Thursday Tips | Little Black Box
Straight Talks: Autonomous regulations around the world
Straight Talks: Innovations in product liability for autonomous and connected vehicles
How Auto Defects Can Cause Passenger Injury
Understanding Supplemental Spousal Liability Insurance in NY
Hailey French’s Story – When millions barely cover the bills.
What happens if more than one person is responsible for an accident?
Catastrophic Impairment: What it means and why it's important to you if you've been hurt in a car accident
In Wolf v. Riverport Insurance Co., the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of an insured’s bad faith settlement delay claim against her insurer after she attempted to recover under section 155 of the...more
In a significant decision issued on June 27, 2025, the Supreme Court of Texas reversed a jury verdict awarding over $89 million in damages in favor of the plaintiffs in Werner Enterprises, Inc. v. Blake, holding that the...more
The Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal recently issued a significant decision in Wolf v. Williams, clarifying that a critical aspect of Florida’s momentous tort reform effort, Section 768.0427, is not retroactive. This...more
In Wolf v. Riverport Insurance Co., the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s holding, under Illinois law, that an underinsured motorist insurer did not breach its insurance contract, and no implied...more
Darryl Vachon v. The Travelers Home & Marine Ins. Co., Fla. 2d DCA, No. 2D2023-2674, February 14, 2025 - The insured was injured in 2011 when he was rear-ended by a driver who had a $10,000.00 insurance policy. The insurance...more
In Audish v. Macias (2024) 102 Cal.App.5th 740, the California Court of Appeal decided a key issue concerning the admissibility of a plaintiff’s future Medicare eligibility in calculating damages for future medical expense...more
With an increasing trend of nuclear excess verdicts around the country against individuals unable to pay millions of dollars, third-party bad faith lawsuits are on the rise. Frequently, attorneys will represent a plaintiff in...more
GEICO General Insurance Company v. Tsao, Fla. 5th DCA, No. 5D2023-0645, December 6, 2024 - The Fifth District Court of Appeal reversed a jury trial verdict in favor of the plaintiffs/insureds in an underinsured motorist case...more
On June 5, the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued an unpublished opinion that provides a blueprint to insurance companies for handling bad faith claims. The Fourth Circuit held in Sellman v....more
Brett McIsaac v. Foremost Insurance Company Grand Rapids, Michigan, A160389 (Sonoma County Super. Ct. No. SCV-265433) (Filed 4/30/21; certified for publication 5/19/21) - McIsaac had an auto insurance policy with Foremost...more
In Florida, an insurer is required to work diligently on the insured’s behalf to avoid an excess judgment, with the “same haste and precision as if it were in the insured’s shoes”. Harvey v. GEICO General Insurance Company,...more
In Garcia v. Awerbach, 136 Nev. Adv. Op. 27 (May 21, 2020), the Supreme Court of Nevada reinstated a severe discovery sanction against a defendant who withheld a critical insurance claims note. In doing so, the Supreme Court...more
In Cawthorn v. Auto-Owners Insurance Co., No. 18-12067 (11th Cir. Oct. 25, 2019), the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Auto-Owners...more
Informed insureds know the importance of notifying their primary insurer of an occurrence or a claim. But notice to the primary layer often does not suffice. If the plaintiff’s demand exceeds the limits in the primary...more
The Georgia Court of Appeals recently reiterated the fundamentals of contract law within the context of insurance settlement negotiations in Yim v. Carr. ...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently closed the book on litigation in which GEICO had been involved since 2010, holding that the granting of a retrial—which resulted in a GEICO victory after an initial...more
After oral argument before The Honorable Michael A. Chagares, The Honorable Kent A. Jordan, and The Honorable Julio M. Fuentes, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit by Opinion entered in Encompass...more
In Molina v. Gears, 2018 Tex. App. LEXIS 1978 (March 20, 2018), the Texas Court of Appeals addressed the issue of whether a plaintiff who timely-filed a complaint exercised due diligence with respect to serving the complaint....more
In a highly anticipated decision, the Pennsylvania Superior Court vacated an eyebrow-raising $21 million award for an auto policyholder and found that the insurer did not act in bad faith....more
The Georgia Court of Appeals recently made waves in Hughes v. First Acceptance Insurance Company of Georgia, Inc., 343 Ga. App. 693 (2017). First, it aggrandized the role of a jury in determining the existence of an offer to...more
Although the Arizona Court of Appeals resolved this issue 20 years ago, I frequently see insureds' counsel argue that an insurer must pay the "undisputed amount" of a UM or UIM claim—and I just saw this argument last week—so...more
The Third District Court of Appeals finding recently held that in certain circumstances, a third party can maintain a bad faith claim against an insurer even if the insured is not exposed to liability in excess of the policy...more
It feels like a black swan event: last month, in GEICO Gen. Ins. Co. v. Harvey, No. 4D15-2724 (Fla. Ct. App. Jan. 4, 2017), a Florida appellate panel unanimously overturned a jury verdict, on the ground that the plaintiff’s...more
Directs Judgment to be Entered in Favor of Insurer - In GEICO v. Harvey, (Fla. 4th DCA Jan. 4, 2017), Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal held that the trial court erred in denying the insurer’s motion for directed...more
In Cadle v. GEICO Ins. Co., Case No. 15-11283 (11th Cir. Sept. 30, 2016), the Eleventh Circuit held that GEICO had not acted in bad faith when it failed to settle a claim after the insured did not provide any evidence of...more