Related Posts
Any news on mid year promotions??
Additional Posts in Personal Injury Lawyers
Conversation Starter
Rising Star
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
That was just a preview…
Sign Up to see all discussions
Sign Up to see all discussions
- Discover what it’s like to work at companies from real professionals
- Get candid advice from people in your field in a safe space
- Chat and network with other professionals in your field
Sign up in seconds to unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
"" is an unusual email domain. If correct, please proceed to the next step
Messaging rates may apply
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
Share
Embed this post
Copy and paste embed code on your site
Preview
Download the
Fishbowl app
Scan your QR code to download
Fishbowl app on your mobile
Sign up for free to view this conversation on Fishbowl
Sign up for free to continue using Fishbowl
Messaging rates may apply
Depends on state law, there are opportunities to recover directly from an insurance company for bad faith above the policy
Two reasons. One, shoot for the stars. Two, and most importantly, if you demand policy and don’t get it, then ultimately recover more, or it’s obvious the case is worth much more, the insurance company is potentially on the hook for bad faith, which can be worth many many times for than the underlying policy.
They do that to set up a potential bad faith claim down the road. For example, if a PI attorney demands the policy limits at the outset, and provides sufficient evidence to support the claim, but the insurance company acts in bad faith and denies the demand, the PI attorney could pursue a bad faith claim if the jury eventually returns a verdict in excess of the policy limits. In the bad faith action, the PI attorney would seek the difference between the verdict and policy limits, plus fees and costs, etc. I was on a case once where the policy limit was $100k, liability was clear, and the damages were catastrophic, but the insurance company screwed up and never even offered the policy limits until it was way too late and the case was about to be tried. Given the threat of a bad faith action, the case settled for $3.5 million.
Because insurance companies always refuse to disclose what the limits are, so the safest thing to do ends up being a demand for the full policy, since that way you are safe whether the policy is only $15k or $15million. If it’s low and they don’t pay a reasonable demand, the policy is arguably open.
And the policy is not the most that can be recovered.
No, the policy limits are not all that can be recovered. If you get a verdict above the policy limits, the defendant's assets are up for grabs and in some cases even the insurer is on the hook if there's bad faith. If all lawyers could recover was the limit of the policy, people would only ever buy minimum policies.
Rising Star
You should always be mindful of the meds/injuries when demanding any amount, but sometimes PL is demanded bc the limits aren’t disclosed from the onset, so the only way to gauge the PL is to demand it.
There’s also just some shitty PI attorneys that demand PL for every single case, even when they have cases that aren’t worth the state minimum PL.
So their client thinks they are getting $1m for their low impact rear end collision with significant pre-existing conditions.
Funny when people out themselves like this
Because your insurance company doesn’t want to pay you more than the file is worth genius. 😂
I don’t know any PI lawyers that “always” do this. It seems like a bad business model.
Policy limits are the most YOU can pay. The demand is so your client has to wonder about whether they have to write a check. The ploy is to make your client sing when they find out they can admit liability to have damages capped at the policy limit