ACCC_Articles_11thCircuitReversesInsurersBadFaithWin_Law360_20230315.pdfExtracontractual and Bad Faith Claims Litigation Committee

Mission Statement
The mission of the Extracontractual and Bad Faith Claims Litigation Committee is to provide the highest level of continuing education specific to the practice area, and promote professionalism and fellowship among both policyholder and insurer attorneys. 

2022-2023 Co-Chairs
Rick Hammond
Amy Johnson


Selected Presentations & Papers:

Posted 3/20/23

FIFTH CIRCUIT REVERSES EXLCUSION OF INSURED’S EXPERT BASED ON DISTRICT COURT’S FAILURE TO EXPLAIN BASIS FOR EXCLUSION.

The district court’s order lacks any analysis of either the importance to the case of the new data in the expert’s Second Report or the potential prejudice to Lloyd’s of allowing the late disclosures, beyond the court’s bald statement that the “delay to seemingly surprise [Lloyd’s] . . . [was] not harmless.” And the district court did not address the possibility of a continuance to cure any prejudice. Because the district court failed adequately to explain its reasoning, “the order must be vacated and remanded to allow the district court to explain its decision after considering the proper factors.” Read more.

Posted 3/20/2023

Florida Cuts P&C Claims Deadlines by Half

Dramatic changes to claims administration for Florida property and casualty insurance carriers took effect on March 1, 2023, cutting claim response times in half for both personal and commercial lines.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Senate bill 2-A (SB 2-A) into law on December 16, 2022, which arose from the Florida legislature's second special legislative session of 2022, addressing the deterioration of the state's P&C insurance marketplace. The bill enacts many significant revisions to claim-governing sections 627.70131 and 627.70132 of the Florida Statutes. Read more.


Posted 3/15/2023

11th Circ. Orders USAA's $5M Bad-Faith Fight To Trial

A USAA unit must face claims that its alleged bad-faith conduct caused its policyholder to suffer a $5 million excess judgment in a trial over a serious car accident, the Eleventh Circuit said Tuesday, reversing and remanding the insurer's early win against the injured driver. Read more.


Posted 3/6/2023

New Jersey Federal Court Allows Bad Faith Failure to Settle Suit to Proceed Based on Claims Committee Conduct

The court’s decision, that bad faith could possibly be established [insurer’s MSJ was denied], was tied to two key issues – (1) the insurer not accepting its adjuster’s recommendation to settle and (2) the court taking issue with how the insurer’s claims committee went about its business of analyzing whether the claim should be settled. Read more.

BrightView Enterprises Solutions v. Farm Family Cas. Ins. Co., No. 20-cv-7915 (D.N.J. Feb. 7, 2023)


Posted 2/10/2023

Kansas Supreme Court Finds No Bad Faith and Affirms Reversal of a District Court’s Finding that the Insurer Breached its Duty of Good Faith in Failing to Settle, thus Causing an Excess Judgment.


Posted 2/10/2023

Insured’s Failure to Obtain Consent to Settlement Deemed Prejudicial

The Western District of Pennsylvania granted an insurer’s motion to dismiss breach of contract and bad faith claims with prejudice after finding that an insured had no basis to sue its insurer for reimbursement of a settlement payment when the insured did not seek the insurer’s consent before entering into the settlement, pursuant to the terms of a business insurance policy. See RealogicHR, LLC v. Continental Cas. Co., 2022 WL 17904245 (W.D. Pa. Dec. 23, 2022).


Posted 1/30/2023

Texas Court of Appeals Affirms Summary Judgment For Insurer After Homeowners Refuse to Cooperate in Appraisal Process and EUO

The Court found that the trial court had properly granted summary judgment for the insurer on the insureds' claims for breach of contract and extra-contractual damages because the insureds refusal to designate a "qualified appraiser" and to timely sit for examinations under oath had breached the policy's cooperation clause and prejudiced the insurer. Read more.

Posted 1/30/2023

Western District of PA Finds No Bad Faith for Policy Interpretation Based on Unsettled Law

The Western District of Pennsylvania recently granted an insurer’s motion for summary judgment and denied an insured’s motion for summary judgment after finding that the insurer did not act in bad faith when it requested that its insured submit to an IME at a time when the validity of the IME clause in the Policy was unsettled and the subject of debate in Pennsylvania.  See Loughery v. Mid-Century Ins. Co., 2022 WL 17821613 (W.D. Pa. Dec. 20, 2022). Read more.

Posted 1/12/2023

Missouri Supreme Court Reverses $5.2 Million Extracontractual Judgment Against Auto Insurer

The Missouri Supreme Court vacated a $5.2 million judgment over a woman's claim that she contracted HPV during sexual encounters in a Geico policyholder's car, finding that the insurer wasn't given the opportunity to intervene in the lawsuit before judgment was entered. Read More.


For later articles, please visit the
Extracontractual and Bad Faith Committee Article Archive page.


Past Co-Chairs

2021-2022
Robert Allen
Kathy Maus

2020-2021
Robert Allen
Heather Sanderson

2019-2020
David Anderson
Robert Allen


2018-2019
David Anderson
Joyce Wang

2017-2018
Jason Mazer
Joyce Wang

2016-2017
Jason Mazer
Joyce Wang

2015-2016
Jason Mazer
Diane Polscer

2014-2015
Jason Mazer
Diane Polscer