King County judge Douglas A. North recently issued $50,000 in sanctions, along with an award of attorney fees, in a UIM case titled Kono v. Pacific Star Ins. Co. et al., King County Superior Court Cause No. 12-2-30494-7 SEA. In issuing the discovery sanctions, the trial court made findings of fact and law […]
PLRB Highlights Two Recent MLR Cases
By Scott MacLaren on November 22, 2013 in Automobile Insurance, Consumer Protection Act (CPA), Fire Loss, Homeowner's and Property Insurance, Property Damage, Replacement Cost
The Property & Liability Resource Bureau (PLRB) has highlighted two recent MLR success stories on its Property and Liability Legal Updates page (login required). The first case highlighted by PLRB is the Hoffman v. Foremost Signature Ins. Co., Civ. No. 6:12-cv-1534-MC, matter from the U.S. District Court in Oregon, in […]
Excess Insurers Prevail on Exhaustion Requirement in the Wash. Court of Appeals
Last week, the Washington Court of Appeals, Div. 1, issued a published opinion in Quellos Group, LLC v. Federal Ins. Co. et al., Wash. Ct. of App., Div. I, Case No. 68478-7-I (2013). The insured filed suit against its excess insurers seeking insurance benefits for settlements and defense costs. In […]
Oregon Federal District Court Rules on Attorney Fees and Prejudgment Interest
By Scott MacLaren on November 20, 2013 in Attorney Fees, Fire Loss, Homeowner's and Property Insurance, Prejudgment Interest
The U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon issued an in-depth opinion on October 1, 2013, about an insured’s entitlement to a reasonable attorney fee and prejudgment interest under Oregon law. Judge Marco A. Hernandez issued a detailed analysis on both issues in Precision Seed Cleaners v. Country Mutual […]
Wash. Court of App., Div. 2, Weighs In On Admissibility of Accident Reconstructionist’s Testimony
As a follow-up to our recent post on the Berryman v. Farmers Ins. Co. of Wash. case, we wanted to point out an opinion from the Washington Court of Appeals, Div. 2, released on October 29, 2013, concerning the admissibility of testimony from the same accident reconstructionist that was at […]
Washington Court of Appeals Addresses Reasonableness of Attorney Fee Claim
In a detailed published opinion, on November 12, 2013, the Washington Court of Appeals, Div. I, found that a trial court abused its discretion in awarding in excess of $290,000 in attorney fees, including imposing a multiplier of 2.0, following a UIM trial. Finding that the award was “excessive, reward[ed] […]
Washington Court of Appeals Upholds Summary Judgment for MLR Client
By Scott MacLaren on November 12, 2013 in Automobile Insurance, Consumer Protection Act (CPA), Extra-Contractual Insurance Claims, Insurance Bad Faith, Property Damage, UM/UIM Insurance
On November 4, 2013, the Washington Court of Appeals, Div. I, following argument by attorney F.J. Maloney, issued a favorable ruling in support of MLR’s client upholding the trial court’s grant of summary judgment. The case involved a claim for UIM property damage to a car under policy language that […]
MLR Obtains Partial Summary Judgment in Fire Loss Replacement Cost Case
By Scott MacLaren on November 12, 2013 in Fire Loss, Homeowner's and Property Insurance, Replacement Cost
On October 21, 2013, MLR attorneys F.J. Maloney and Kyle Sturm obtained partial summary judgment in an insurance coverage lawsuit involving property damages following a fire in the plaintiff’s mobile home. Plaintiff argued that she was entitled to replace her mobile home with a stick-built home, and that she was […]
Welcome to the MLR Insurance Coverage Law Blog
Maloney Lauersdorf Reiner is proud and excited to launch this Insurance Coverage Law Blog. The aim of the blog is to provide a central resource that details interesting developments in Insurance Coverage Law. We hope to regularly update the blog with case law, articles, and other resources. Although the blog […]