AUGUST 2015 BAD FAITH CASES: ON DISCOVERY MOTIONS, COURT: (1) QUASHES DEPOSITION OF FORMER CEO; (2) QUASHES DISCOVERY OF OTHER CASES; (3) ALLOWS DISCOVERY OF SI UNIT/LOW IMPACT UNIT RELATING TO SPECIFIC CASE AT HAND; (4) ALLOWS DISCOVERY OF RESERVES (Middle District)

Morris v. USAA Casualty Insurance Company involved discovery disputes in a UIM breach of contract and bad faith case. The court denied a motion to…

AUGUST 2015 BAD FAITH CASES: COURT FINDS THAT SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF NEW YORK APPLY BASED ON CHOICE OF FORUM CLAUSE IN POLICY, EVEN THOUGH NEW YORK, UNLIKE PENNSYLVANIA (1) DOES NOT RECOGNIZE ACTION FOR BAD FAITH DENIAL OF INSURANCE CLAIMS AND (2) DOES NOT REQUIRE INSURED HAVE SCIENTIR FOR INSURER TO SEEK RESCISSION (Western District)

In H.J. Heinz Co. v. Starr Surplus Lines Ins. Co., the insured and the insurer sought a declaration from the Court as to the insurer’s…

AUGUST 2015 BAD FAITH CASES: COURT (1) DENIES INSURER’S MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION ON CONTRACTUAL AND STATUTORY BAD FAITH ISSUES; AND (2) DENIES MOTION FOR CERTIFICATION OF INTERLOCUTORY APPEAL ON NEGLIGENCE STANDARD IN CONTRACTUAL BAD FAITH CASES (Western District)

As discussed at length in our prior blog posting the Court previously had held that that under Pennsylvania law, a contractually based bad faith claim…