Chapter 93A/Massachusetts Insurance Bad Faith Law

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

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

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

This is a quick note on a new Chapter 93A decision by the Massachusetts Appeals Court that I want to highlight for a couple of reasons. Chapter 93A, for those readers from out of state, is Massachusetts’ consumer protection and unfair business practices statute. The statute is a very powerful weapon in the right case

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

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

I spoke earlier in the week at ALM’s Complex Claims and Litigation Forum in Las Vegas, where I was on a panel on “Tackling Market Disruptors – How to Manage Industry Shifts.” I spoke on a subject near and dear to my heart, which is the impact on claims handling of the rise of the

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

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