Insurance Bad Faith Pre-Trial Strategies: Demand Letters, Pleadings, Defenses, Damages, Bifurcation, and Experts
Developing Winning Pre-Trial Tactics for Policyholders and Insurers
Recording of a 90-minute CLE webinar with Q&A
This CLE course will outline pre-trial strategies for both insurers and policyholders litigating bad faith claims. The program will focus on demand letters to insurers, drafting and answering bad faith complaints, proving and opposing damages, bifurcation, and using expert witnesses.
Outline
- Policyholder strategies
- Bad faith demand letters
- Bad faith pleading requirements
- Proving insurer breach of duties
- Calculating damages
- Using experts in bad faith cases
- Insurer strategies
- Responding to demand letters
- Bad faith defenses
- Change of venue and removal if jurisdiction unfavorable to insurance carriers
- Bifurcating coverage and bad faith issues
- Challenges to claims professional testimony
Benefits
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- Is the insurer’s disclaimer of coverage enough to state a bad faith claim?
- What facts regarding the insurer’s actions should policyholders include in the complaint to survive a motion to dismiss?
- What industry experts are best suited for bad faith claims, and what are common challenges or objections to their testimony?
- What factors should insurers consider in deciding whether to move to bifurcate the coverage trial from the bad faith trial?
Faculty
Michael J. DiSantis
Partner
Tressler
Mr. DiSantis focuses his practice in the areas of insurance coverage analysis and insurance coverage litigation,... | Read More
Mr. DiSantis focuses his practice in the areas of insurance coverage analysis and insurance coverage litigation, assisting insurance companies in resolving complex disputes. He has represented insurance companies in litigated coverage matters in federal and state courts throughout the country, including those involving advertising injury, personal injury, bodily injury and property damage. His experience encompasses coverage for environmental risks, toxic torts, asbestos, habitational risks, security, construction defects, consumer class actions, general coverage and allegations of bad faith.
CloseMichael H. Sampson
Partner
Reed Smith
Mr. Sampson's practice is focused on representing corporate policyholders in complicated coverage disputes with... | Read More
Mr. Sampson's practice is focused on representing corporate policyholders in complicated coverage disputes with their insurers. He counsels clients and litigates about subjects as diverse as trigger of coverage, defense obligations, other-insurance clauses, insurer bad-faith claims-handling, and abstention. He also advises and represents clients with respect to many other issues relating to commercial general liability policies, management liability coverages, and other types of insurance.
CloseEdward Susolik
Attorney
Callahan & Blaine
Mr. Susolik is known and respected as one of the top insurance bad faith and coverage lawyers in the Western United... | Read More
Mr. Susolik is known and respected as one of the top insurance bad faith and coverage lawyers in the Western United States. He has developed a reputation among insurance companies and defense counsel as a leading expert, combining insurance law expertise and knowledge with the powerful skills of a master litigator and trial lawyer. Mr. Susolik has successfully resolved over 1000 insurance disputes during the last 29 years of practice. Mr. Susolik has wide expertise in the full spectrum of insurance bad faith and coverage litigation. His core practice is maximizing insurance benefits for business and corporate policyholders, from Fortune 500 companies to small business entities. He has represented hundreds of corporations, partnerships, associations and other business organizations in complex insurance disputes in his career.
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