We have developed a broad based insurance coverage practice at Phillips Law that expands across multiple lines of insurance. We have rendered coverage opinions involving standard and manuscript foreign and domestic general liability policies, excess policies, personal injury and advertising injury policies, employment practices policies, additional insureds and vendors endorsements, officers and directors and other professional liability policies, as well as first party-property policies.
We also advise insurers on policy drafting and claims handling. We work side-by-side with our clients to develop language addressing unusual, emerging, and high-risk liabilities, as well as to revise existing policy language to address an ever changing legal landscape. One of the most significant areas for bad faith exposure is the handling of a claim. We work with our clients to develop a thorough and responsive claims handling process to minimize the potential for a failure to result in exposure for bad faith. We draft claims handling guidelines and provide step-by-step procedures to ensure that regulatory mandates are complied with.
Bad faith claims are some of the most serious types of accusations that can be brought against an insurance company. Not only do such claims question an insurance company’s claims handling process, but they can result in thousands, if not millions of dollars in extra-contractual exposure for the company. That is why Phillips Law takes a proactive approach to minimize the possibility of bad faith claims being brought against our clients. Through detailed claims analyses and consultation, we help our clients avoid bad faith claims. We carefully examine all the facts surrounding a claim and assist the clients in drafting positional letters. If a bad faith claim is asserted against our clients, our attorneys have significant experience handling declaratory relief and bad faith litigation in federal and state courts in California and Arizona.
At Phillips Law, we also have an aggressive insurance recovery practice. Our attorneys have extensive litigation expertise with contribution and subrogation actions and have recovered over $50 million dollars on behalf of our clients.
Some of the successes of our attorneys in the area of insurance coverage and bad faith defense include:
- Summary judgment in favor of our client on a contribution claim arising out of multiple construction defect actions where co-insurer refused to defend based on the application of a self-insured retention.
- Summary judgment in favor of our client insurance carrier on plaintiff’s bad faith claim alleging failure to appoint independent counsel.
- Summary judgment in favor of insurance carrier on bad faith claim by developer for failing to adequately investigate coverage prior to denying tender of defense.
- Jury verdict in favor of our client on its subrogation claim against a commercial dishwasher manufacturer when defective electrical component caused fire resulting in over $3 million dollars of property damage.
- Summary judgment in favor of our client on contribution claim where co-carrier disputed allocation of defense costs arising out of ten construction defect actions.
- Summary judgment in favor of client based on application of unfair business practices exclusion under directors and officers policy issued to home marketing company.
- Summary adjudication granted in favor of our client in declaratory relief for right of reimbursement for defense and indemnification costs for uncovered habitability claims.