It’s interesting. I have been at DRI’s 2024 Insurance Coverage and Practice Symposium all day, and much of the discussion is either directly about or tangentially related to the impact of artificial intelligence on insurance. To me, the consistent theme that underlies all of the discussion is the ability of AI tools to improve the
Bad Faith Causes of Action
Principles for Avoiding Chapter 93A or Other Bad Faith Liability (Lesson Three)
In the first of my two posts in this series discussing lessons I have learned over the past thirty years of practice as to how to avoid incurring Chapter 93A liability as a result of claims handling or settlement decisions, I discussed the centrality of the factual record of the claims handling and the necessity…
Principles for Avoiding Chapter 93A or Other Bad Faith Liability (Lesson Two)
In my last post on the lessons that I have learned in 30 years of representing insurers in Chapter 93A cases, I discussed the crucial – almost outcome determinative – role in such a case against an insurer of the actual facts of the underlying claim and the manner in which the claim was…
Principles for Avoiding Chapter 93A or Other Bad Faith Liability (Lesson One)
I have counseled insurers and represented them in litigation on bad faith claims handling and Chapter 93A cases for pretty much the entire modern era of insurer bad faith law in Massachusetts. My very first trial as a first chair was a Chapter 93A bad faith failure to settle claim against a major insurer (I…
Generative AI, Nuclear Verdicts and Insurance Bad Faith: My Takeaways from DRI’s Insurance Coverage and Practice Symposium
As usual, I had a terrific experience at DRI’s annual Insurance Coverage and Practice Symposium in midtown Manhattan, which was held last week. I had gone in many ways simply for two particular presentations, one on generative AI and the other on the impact of nuclear verdicts on insurance coverage and bad faith issues, although…
The Tell-Tale Settlement Valuation, or Poe Takes On Insurer Bad Faith
This is a very interesting tale about an unusual outcome that shouldn’t actually be all that unusual. I know – with that lead in, now you may be expecting some sort of Edgar Allan Poe tale, like “The Tell-Tale Blog,” or something similar.
But that’s not the type of tale I have for…
He Points to Left Field and Says Social Inflation is Coming for Employment Verdicts Too
I like to call my shots when I can. So for instance, I am on record as saying Gunnar Henderson will win an MVP award within five years, the Orioles will win the World Series this year and that neither Bill Belichick nor anyone on his coaching tree will ever win a playoff game now…
My Not So Live Tweeting of the 2022 DRI Insurance Coverage and Practice Symposium
I attended a large legal conference (DRI’s Insurance Coverage and Practice Symposium) in person last week for the first time since the pandemic, and not only learned a lot, but had a great time (shout out in particular to the kitchen staff at Capital Grill and props to the bartender at the Whitby…
On the Relationship Between Runaway Juries and Insurer Bad Faith
So there is an interesting article in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly on the rise of so-called “nuclear” verdicts in Massachusetts, or in other words, what we used to just call – with much less hyperbole – runaway jury verdicts. (By the way, can we do away with the marketing campaign to label large verdicts nuclear; runaway…
Did the Massachusetts Appeals Court Just Demand that Insurers Up Their Game When It Comes to Investigating Claims?
There is an interesting new decision by the Massachusetts Appeals Court concerning the liability of insurers under Massachusetts law for wrongful failure to settle a claim. Under the Massachusetts rubric, an insurer has an obligation to make at least reasonable efforts to settle a claim against its insured once the insured’s liability has become reasonably…