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Insurance Law

Insurance Coverage Law Blog

Recent cases in insurance coverage matters, as well as industry developments and news.
By David Rossmiller

Post Frequency: 1.1/day

Last Entry: July 28, 2010 at 17:16:01

Blogging schedule, July 28

Posted on July 28, 2008
I have been in west L.A. on vacation for the past five days, and hoped to have a post up already today, but some work-related matters intruded and suck up the available time. So posting will have to wait until this evening when I return to Portland -- too bad, because I have some good stuff to write about...

Can't we bring the Trailer Lawyers back somehow?

Posted on July 24, 2008
During the time in recent weeks I was preoccupied with other matters and couldn't spend much if any time blogging, it crossed my mind that perhaps when I was able to come back to blogging, I would find that the Trailer Lawyers -- Trailer Chip and Trailer Tony, Trailer Todd and Trailer Mary -- had found a way to get back into the Katrina spotlight...

Plaintiffs lawyer pays tribute to Judge Senter

Posted on July 24, 2008
Couldn't really think of a clever headline for this post, sorry. In working my way through the backlog after returning to active blog duty, I was interested in this post at the Merlin Law Blog, a tribute to Judge Senter, of Hurricane Katrina fame. I certainly agree that Judge Senter has done a remarkable job...

Mississippi Bar seeks to disbar Scruggses

Posted on July 24, 2008
I'm a little late to comment on this one -- it's a couple days old -- but it's still worth talking about. It's a foregone conclusion that it will happen: the Mississippi State Bar is moving to take away the law licenses of Dickie and Zach Scruggs...

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Dickie Scruggs to serve time in Bluegrass State

Posted on July 23, 2008
As I mentioned in an earlier post, due to escape concerns, Dickie Scruggs will not be going to prison in Pensacola, Florida, which unfortunately means he will not be nearby to consult with attorneys on lawsuits if a future hurricane strikes the area...

Scruggs won't serve time in Panhandle prison due to fears he will air mail himself out of the country

Posted on July 23, 2008
OK, I said blogging would resume July 22. More like July 23. Sorry for the delay, but the workload that was interfering with blogging has now eased, for the time being, sufficiently to allow for life's necessities -- such as blogging -- to resume...

Regular blogging to resume July 22

Posted on July 21, 2008
My workload has decreased from 24/7 to a more manageable 18/7, so I will once again be blogging regularly, starting tomorrow. Thanks for your patience and thanks for the e-mails, it will be good to get back to some blogging again.

Blogging Schedule, July 10

Posted on July 10, 2008
I've had inquiries about whether I'm on strike, deceased, joined the Peace Corps, kidnapped by aliens, etc. It's just an incredibly busy time for me now, I'll post when I can, but it will probably remain this busy for another week at least. As I've said, work is the curse of the blogging class...

Scruggs sues firm that demanded money from him for defense of Rigbys

Posted on July 07, 2008
Two questions.Number 1.Q: How close is this whole Rigsby mess to unraveling, like a crow swooping down, grabbing a loose thread on your suit and flying off? A: Apparently, pretty close.Number 2.Q: When is an agreement to indemnify someone's expense not an agreement to indemnify someone's expenses?A: Apparently, when Dickie Scruggs is involved...

Zach Scruggs gets 14 months prison time

Posted on July 02, 2008
Judge "Maximum Neal" Biggers today sentenced Zach Scruggs to 14 months in prison for his role in the Scruggs Bribery Scandal. Actually, it was not the maximum he could have received -- three years was the max. According to this Associated Press story by Holbrook Mohr, the younger Scruggs seemed surprised...

Scruggs Nation: June 27, the sentencing

Posted on June 27, 2008
Judge "Maximum Neal" Biggers sentenced Dickie Scruggs to five years in prison, the most Scruggs could receive under his plea agreement. According to this story in the Sun Herald, Scruggs finally came forward with an apology:Before sentencing, Scruggs told the judge, "I could not be more ashamed to be where I am today...

Scruggs Nation: June 26, the pre-sentencing

Posted on June 26, 2008
I've been reading some of the excerpts from the treasure trove of letters asking the Court for leniency in the Scruggs sentencing tomorrow. And after reading them, I've had a change of heart. You know what I say? He's suffered enough, just let him go! I mean, lighten up a little here, let's not get all harsh, let's not go all Torquemada on the dude! Just kidding...

Scruggs sentencing approaches, letters to be released

Posted on June 24, 2008
As the world turns. It had almost completely slipped my mind that Dickie Scruggs was to be sentenced this Friday, until I talked with Alan Lange of Y'All Politics yesterday. With Katrina cases winding down and the Scruggster getting measured for a tailored orange jumpsuit, I admit my attention has begun to wander, but it's been difficult to find something as interesting to talk about...

"Bye Bye" to Trailer Lawyers again, Scruggs to be deposed, required to give up docments

Posted on June 20, 2008
Team Scruggs just can't catch a break these days. Disappointingly, Judge Senter refused to overturn his disqualification of the Trailer Lawyers from the False Claims Act case (question: which side is it that's makes the false claims? Remind me)...

Sun Herald seeks Scruggs fan letters

Posted on June 19, 2008
The Sun Herald of Biloxi, according to this story, has filed a motion in federal court to get copies of the letters people are writing to ask for leniency for Dickie Scruggs, Zach Scruggs and Sid Backstrom, at their upcoming sentencing. This is a great idea, I wish I had thought of it myself...

Rigsby emergency motion

Posted on June 19, 2008
A curious kerfuffle in the McIntosh v. State Farm case. Yesterday Cori Rigsby filed an emergency motion seeking to have the Court modify its order dealing with production of certain of her computer records to State Farm. I read over the motion a couple times, and it's somewhat confusing, but apparently among the records to be produced are several things that have alarmed Cori Rigsby greatly, leading to this emergency motion...

Trailer Lawyer news: State Farm's response to Trailer Lawyer motion to reconsider

Posted on June 18, 2008
The last strains of the song "Bye Bye Trailer Lawyer Pie" had not yet died out when the Trailer Lawyers filed a motion for reconsideration of their disqualification from Ex rel. Rigsby, the False Claims Act case that stemmed from various trailer summits and accessing of documents from a laptop in a trailer...

Insurance Coverage Law Blog?

Posted on June 16, 2008
I don't often write something that intentionally falls into the category of "Who Cares?" -- sometimes I do this by accident, I know -- but this is one of those things I have to mention, because I spent dough and effort pursuing it, and because it involves intellectual property rights in my blog, which if you have them you are supposed to let people know...

Agent, insurer liability for failure to procure flood insurance

Posted on June 16, 2008
This decision in a little long in the tooth, blogosphere-wise, but I've had it sitting around for a while and was reminded of it when I saw it recapped in Mealey's recently. U.S. District Court Judge Peter Beer, of the Eastern District of Louisiana, granted partial summary judgment on May 2 to State Farm and one of its agents, Nora Vaden, over a claim that they were negligent in failing to procure a flood insurance policy for the homeowner, Liselotte Morice...

California Insurance Commissioner wants court decision depublished that placed responsibility on homeowner to obtain adequate insurance

Posted on June 12, 2008
A reader sent me this fascinating, and pretty good, story from the L.A. Times. The story looks at recent homeowner losses to wildfire -- where a major problem was homeowners having property insurance for less than the value of the home -- and debates who is to blame for underinsurance, agents and insurers, or homeowners...

Provost Umphrey firm not disqualified, provided they meet conditions set by Judge Senter

Posted on June 12, 2008
Judge Senter's opinion is here. The Provost Umphrey firm in Texas, which had been recommended to policyholders by the disqualified Katrina(less) Litigation(less) Group, will not itself be disqualified, providing that within 14 days they can say the following is true:1...

Hoodzpah, Part Deux: What will Hood say to these developments?

Posted on June 12, 2008
You may have heard about this. State Farm, citing an oppressive legal climate in Mississippi fostered in large part by Attorney General Jim Hood, wants to hike rates in Mississippi by 13 percent and will drop coverage for homes within 1,000 feet of the coast...

Hoodzpah: AG Hood calls Judge Acker 'unprofessional,' continues 2008 Self-Destruction Tour

Posted on June 12, 2008
If I was an adviser to Jim Hood, I would have counseled just letting Judge Acker's blast against the "so-called law enforcement official" go unanswered, or passing it off with a simple "I took the actions necessary to protect the people of Mississippi and protect the integrity of my office (chuckle), the allegations are false," or "he doesn't have his facts straight," or "he's not looking at all the facts and circumstances...

Federal jury returns $21 million verdict against insurer in Katrina case in Louisiana

Posted on June 10, 2008
Here's a case I've been meaning to get to for a few days -- Marketfare Annunciation, LLC v. United Fire & Casualty Ins. Co. On June 6 a federal jury in the Eastern District of Louisiana, in New Orleans, handed down a $21 million against United Fire and in favor of Marketfare, a small local grocery store chain, over Katrina damage...

Hammer time: more thoughts on Judge Acker's civil contempt ruling on Scruggs, Rigsby sisters

Posted on June 06, 2008
In reading Judge Acker's opinion of yesterday once again, it is striking how different this writing is from most judicial and legal writing -- one can actually understand it, and it is well-written and enjoyable to read. I say "enjoyable" not merely because I agree with what it says, but because the judge made good use of the writer's storytelling tools...

Judge Acker hammers Scruggs, Rigsby sisters for contempt

Posted on June 05, 2008
Wow. Judge Acker found Scruggs and the Rigsby sisters jointly and severally liable for civil contempt and a fine of $65,000 in the Renfroe v. Rigsby case, relating to failure to promptly return the stolen State Farm claims files to Renfroe's counsel...

Scruggs Nation, June 5

Posted on June 05, 2008
Dickie Scruggs' sentencing hearing has been moved again. Here's the story. I wonder how that federal investigation of the Wilson case is doing. Walter Olson has some news, including links to a post on the folo blog and a story by Patsy Brumfield...

Return of the Trailer Lawyers? Missouri lawyers fail to accept disqualification

Posted on June 03, 2008
A few weeks ago, it was Bye Bye Trailer Lawyer Pie. But the Trailer Lawyers, bless 'em, are not willing to haul their trailer off quietly into the sunset. The Trailer Lawyers have now filed an eight-page rant against State "Snake" Farm and, strangely enough, Judge L...

McIntosh v. State Farm update, June 2

Posted on June 02, 2008
The latest filings in the McIntosh case's latest flare-up over discovery issues includes this interesting question posed in State Farm's brief in response to Dickie and Zach Scruggs' objections to Judge Walker's order compelling production of certain documents:Yet continuing their quest not to produce any documents, despite the substantial reduction in their scope, the Scruggses have filed another objection with this Court, thus causing one to wonder: What information could possibly be contained in those documents that the Scruggses so desperately want to keep from ever seeing the light of day? The briefing for discovery fights in cases involving Scruggs and the former Scruggs Katrina Group provides some of the best details available as to Scruggs' methods of conducting litigation...

Scruggs Nation: I Fought the Law and the Law Won version

Posted on May 30, 2008
Dickie Scruggs, Zach Scruggs, and their former law partner Sid Backstrom are to be sentenced July 2 in the Scruggs bribery scandal. John O'Brien at Legal Newsline has a story, and here is Judge Biggers' order setting the scheduling hearing...

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