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Absent Policyholder Demand To Settle, Seventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Bad Faith Action Against Insurer After Unexpected Excess Judgment
Absent Policyholder Demand To Settle, Seventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Bad Faith Action Against Insurer After Unexpected Excess Judgment
The Seventh Circuit, applying
Illinois law, recently tackled the highly-charged issue of a bad faith claim
against an insurer for failing to settle for the policy limit. In Surgery Center at 900 North Michigan Avenue,
LLC v. American Physicians Assurance Corp., Inc. , the Seventh Circuit closely
scrutinized the facts and affirmed the trial courtaEUR(TM)s decision that the insurer
did not act in bad faith.
The coverage dispute arose between the Surgery
Center at 900 North Michigan Avenue, LLC (Surgery Center) and its insurer when
a jury found the Surgery Center liable for medical malpractice to the tune of
$5.17 million. Since coverage under the insureraEUR(TM)s policy was limited to $1
million, thereby exposing the Surgery Center to excess exposure, the Surgery
Center sued its insurer for failing to settle for the policy limit. In reaching
its decision, the Seventh Circuit painstakingly reviewed the underlying
litigation, which involved a botched outpatient laparoscopic surgery that
rendered the patient a quadriplegic. After the patient initiated a lawsuit
against the Surgery Center, the insurer hired an outside law firm to defend them.
Internally, the insurer set reserves in the amount of $560,000 and labeled the
case as aEURoehigh exposureaEUR? due the possibility of an adverse verdict exceeding the
policy limit. After discovery and prior to the first of two trials, the
patientaEUR(TM)s counsel offered to settle for $1 million, which was rejected. Thereafter, the trial court granted summary
judgment in favor of the Surgery Center. However, that ruling was ultimately
reversed and remanded for trial by the Appellate Court.
Following the remand, the insurer
raised its reserves to the policy limit. Notably, the insurer did not inform the
Surgery Center of this action, but did advise them that the case was
defensible. After another $1 million settlement was rejected, the jury handed
down the award of $5.17 million. Ultimately, there was a settlement for $2.25
million, with $1 million being paid by the insurer.
During the trial of the ensuing
bad faith suit, evidence was presented showing the insureraEUR(TM)s new company-wide
strategy was to promote aggressive defense of claims against insureds; and that
the suit against the Surgery Center was rated a 9 out of 10 on its severity
scale. Before the second trial, the insurer notified the Surgery Center of the
renewed $1 million settlement demand and indicated it would not be negotiating
a settlement. Additionally, since the patient did not have an expert to testify
against nurses at the Surgery Center, the insurer considered this very
favorable under Illinois law.
Evidence also revealed that although
the Surgery Center was aware of the potential for an adverse verdict, it
nonetheless implored counsel retained by the insurer to not settle under the
belief that the Surgery Center was not negligent. Ultimately, at the close of
trial, the district court granted judgment as matter of law in favor of the
insurer since the duty to settle was not triggered. In particular, the district
court concluded that although there was a reasonable probability of recovery in
excess of the limit, there was a consensus of a strong probability of a finding
of no liability.
The Seventh Circuit agreed,
stating that document after document showed the Surgery CenteraEUR(TM)s president
believed the case was defensible and that it would be found not negligent. Moreover,
the Seventh Circuit pointed out that the insurer repeatedly reminded the Surgery
Center of its policy limit and that it would be on the hook for any excess
judgment. As a result, the mere possibility that the Surgery Center would be
found liable was not sufficient to overturn the district courtaEUR(TM)s ruling.
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