Blog Posts: Insurance

The Holding In Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc., v. The Honorable Christopher Whitten, 2017 WL 4296583 (Ariz. App. Sep. 28, 2017) (774 Ariz. Adv. Rep.4), the Arizona Court of Appeals just held that a legal malpractice plaintiff did not impliedly waive the attorney-client privilege regarding communications with subsequent counsel, simply because the defendant alle...

The Takeaways Bad faith defense counsel should caution their bad faith experts not to speculate that an insurer’s claim decisions were based on advice of counsel.  The Huntoncase continues the trend of Arizona federal courts finding an implied waiver of the attorney-client privilege in bad faith cases more often than Arizona state courts.In...

In Sobieski v. Am. Standard Ins. Co. of Wisconsin, 2016 WL 5436588 (Ariz.App. Sept. 29, 2016),[1] despite upholding a bad faith judgment for an insurer conducting an unreasonable investigation and denying a claim, the Arizona Court of Appeals reversed a $1 million award of punitive damages.  In so holding, the Court of Appeals continued Arizona’s trend of...

United Financial Casualty Co. v. Associated Indem. Corp., 2016 WL 6518491 (Ariz. App. November 3, 2016) The Arizona Court of Appeals (Memorandum Decision), held that a plaintiff’s injury, which occurred approximately one minute after she exited an insured automobile and after she walked approximately ten feet: did not fall within commercial autom...

GEICO Indem. Co. v. Smith, 2016 WL 5791532 (D. Ariz. Oct. 4, 2016) The Arizona District Court (Arizona and Pacific Reporter citations not yet available), held that an Insurer who offers its policy limits as a business consideration, but never concedes coverage, is not liable as a matter of law for an excess judgment against its Insured. In Smith,&nb...

Stafford v. Burns, ---P.3d---,2017 WL 164310 (Ariz.App. January 17, 2017) This is a medical malpractice and wrongful death case arising from emergency medical care rendered after a methadone overdose, the Arizona Court of Appeals “decline [d] to impose a requirement that Offers of Judgment be deemed reasonable before sanctions are imposed under Rule 68(g).&r...

Because Arizona cases touching on this issue are copious, confusing, and complex, we note the following guidelines—though sometimes conflicting—have emerged from Lee and its progeny and will assist an Insurer’s analysis of whether a court will find an implied waiver of the Privilege: 1.    The mental state of an Insurer must be an issue to impliedly...

In Orosco v. Maricopa County Special Health Care District, (2017 WL 469690) (Ariz. App. February 2, 2017), a medical malpractice case in which the jury’s $4.25 million verdict exceeded two offers of judgment made by plaintiffs, the Arizona Court of Appeals held “a subsequent offer of judgment does not extinguish the effect of an offeree’s fa...

Although Arizona law regarding the implied waiver of the attorney-client privilege (the “Privilege”) is far from certain, an Insurer may avoid a waiver by following these tips:An Insurer should consider whether to defend a bad faith claim solely on objective reasonableness.[1]An Insurer should avoid, if possible, asserting its actions wer...

Epperson v. AAA Fire & CAs. Ins Co., WL 406144 (Ariz.App January 31, 2017) Memorandum Decision, an insurance bad faith case arising from a fire claim, the Arizona Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to an Insurer, despite the Insurer paying the claim over 15 months after the fire occurred. The Insured’s argued the ...