Month: August 2016

The California Supreme Court Finds That In Determining Whether A Punitive Damage Award Is Unconstitutionally Excessive, The Court Could Take Into Consideration As The Compensatory Damage Component In An Insurance Bad Faith Case The Award Of Attorney’s Fee

In a well-reasoned decision, the California Supreme Court held in Nickerson v. Stonebridge Life Ins. Co., 63 Cal.4th 363, 203 Cal.Rptr.3d 23, 371 P.3d 242, (2016), that a trial court could give consideration to an award of attorney's fees in favor of the insured, in a...

Arizona Court Finds That A Public Works Payment Bond Surety Cannot Be Held Liable For Bad Faith Failure To Investigate Because The Surety’s Duties And Obligations Are Limited To Those Which Are Enumerated In Arizona’s Public Works Bonding Act.

In S&S Paving and Constr., Inc. v. Berkley Regional Ins. Co., 239 Ariz. 512, 372 P.3d 1036 (Ct. App. 2016) , the Arizona Court of Appeals considered whether a surety could be sued by a subcontractor for bad faith failure to investigate when the surety issued a...

Limiting the Scope of Ambiguity

Recently the Colorado Supreme Court in American Family Mutual Ins. Co. v. Hansen, 2016 WL 3398507 (Colo., filed 6/20/16) considered whether an extrinsic document, separate and apart from the insurance policy, could be used to create a policy ambiguity. The Court held...

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