Over One Million Dollars Awarded in Bad Faith Damages (Lehigh Common Pleas)

The excellent Tort Talk Blog posted today on Judge Melissa T. Pavlack’s bad faith ruling in Unterberg v. Mercury Insurance Company. Judge Pavlack awarded $900,000 in punitive damages and $186,879.50 in attorneys’ fees, interest of $7,427.39, and costs of $3,595.35. The underlying damages for breach of contract were $21,220.48. Thus, the total compensatory damages were $219,122.72, and punitive damages were based on this figure.

Our thanks to Tort Talk’s Daniel Cummins, Esquire for posting a summary of this case, and attaching a copy of Judge Pavlack’s opinion with her detailed reasoning.