Insurance Law Commons^™

May Harvey Rest In Peace: Lakin V. Postal Life And Casualty Company, Robert H. Jerry Ii

Faculty Publications

More than a quarter-century has passed since I entered law school as a first-year student and began what has become a career of reading, among other things, cases. I cannot even guess the number of cases I have read in the ensuing years. Most of them have been fairly ordinary, but many have been wonderful for one reason or another. Because I hope to read at least as many cases during my next twenty-five years (or more) of legal study, I am not yet ready to crown any particular case with the title of "my favorite," "the most significant," or …

May Harvey Rest In Peace: Lakin V. Postal Life And Casualty Company, Robert H. Jerry Ii

UF Law Faculty Publications

There is a case that has piqued my interest in recent years. Lakin v. Postal Life & Casualty Co., is a relatively simple story of two men whose paths crossed in Kansas City, Missouri, more than forty years ago. One was a down-in-the-luck drifter, and the other a con-artist who made his living by taking advantage of others. These two men would be long forgotten but for the fact that their final interactions during a hunting trip near Pleasant Hill, Missouri, raised some insurance law issues that ultimately made their way to the Missouri Supreme Court. Lakin stands for the …

Teaching Real Torts: Using Barry Werth's Damages In The Law School Classroom, Tom Baker

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Insurance Causation Issues: The Legacy Of Bird V. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., Peter N. Swisher

Law Faculty Publications

In all of Anglo-American law, there is no concept that has been as been so pervasive - and yet so elusive - as the causation requirement; and even today this causation requirement in American law has resisted all efforts to reduce it to a useful, understandable, and comprehensive formula regarding its underlying nature, content, scope, and significance. Indeed, no less an authority than William Lloyd Prosser has stated that there "is perhaps nothing in the entire field of the law which has called forth more disagreement, or upon which the opinions are in such a welter of confusion" than legal …

The Sounds Of Silence: Waiting For Courts To Acknowledge That Public Policy Justifies Awarding Damages To Third-Party Claimants When Liability Insurers Deal With Them In Bad Faith, Francis J. Mootz Iii

McGeorge School of Law Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

A New Old Look At Terrorism Insurance: Jack Hirshleifer's War Damage Insurance After Fifty Years, Peter Siegelman

Faculty Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

Exclusions For War And Terrorism: Who Will Pay For Man-Made Catastrophes?, Greg Munro

Faculty Journal Articles & Other Writings

This article examines the effect the coordinated attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11 had on insurers. The article notes that losses from an act of terrorism could rival those of acts of war and threaten the financial viability of the insurers that make American enterprise possible. The article points out that the insurers agree that they will survive this loss but will not take the chance on another of the same or greater magnitude. The article addresses ways that the risk of loss from terrorist acts may be spread across American society .

The Constitutional Attack On Montana's Anti-Stacking Statute, Greg Munro

Faculty Journal Articles & Other Writings

This article presents MTLA member Randy Bishop's amicus curiae arguments that challenge the validity of the Montana anti-stacking statute under four provisions of the Montana Constitution. The argument was written in support of the plaintiff in Hardy v. Progressive Specialty Insurance Company.

The Duty Of The Agent Or Broker To Recommend Underinsured Motorist Coverage With Adequate Limits, Greg Munro

Faculty Journal Articles & Other Writings

This article addresses the question of whether an insurance agent or broker have any duty in Montana to recommend a particular coverage in a specific adequate amount. More specifically, the article explores what the agent or broker's duty is, if any, to recommend that the insured purchase UIM coverage and do so with an adequate limit of liability. Although the article focuses on the agent's duty to explain and recommend auto UIM coverage, the law and arguments discussed can be extrapolated to other coverage lines such as homeowners or commercial general liability.

The Role Of Jury In Modern Malpractice Law, Philip G. Peters Jr.

Faculty Publications

This article explores the policy issues raised by the choice between a custom-based standard of care and a jury-determined reasonability standard. The author examines not only traditional legal arguments but also the recent findings of cognitive psychology, jury performance studies, and health industry research. Not surprisingly, this analysis reveals that both options are imperfect. However, the author cautiously recommends the reasonable physician standard. The revolutionary transformation of the health care industry in last quarter of a century has transferred considerable power from physicians to the health insurance industry, an industry that has not yet earned the privilege of self-regulation. Unlike …

Simple Fairness: Ending Discrimination In Health Insurance Coverage Of Addiction Treatment, Sonja Starr

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Before It's Too Late- Addressing Fear Of Genetic Information, Karen H. Rothenberg, Sharon F. Terry

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Case Against Montana's Anti-Stacking Statute, Greg Munro

Faculty Journal Articles & Other Writings

This article begins by noting that the 1997 anti-stacking statute is the number one problem faced by plaintiff's' counsel in Montana in attempting to secure adequate compensation for clients' injuries arising out of the operation of automobiles. The article charges that the brutal economics of the 1997 anti-stacking statute, which prohibits consumers from obtaining the benefit of multiple coverages for which they paid while allowing insurers a windfall by permitting them to collect multiple and ever increasing premiums for no coverage, has compelled attorneys to attack the statute.

The article presents a status report of a compendium of "stacking" cases …

Introduction: Favorite Insurance Cases Symposium, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Insurance law scholars and teachers sometimes feel, with a mixture of paranoia and justification, that insurance law simply does not receive its proper respect in the hierarchy of legal education and law generally.

Consider the law school curriculum. In none of America’s nearly 200 ABA-approved law schools in insurance law a required course. Nor is it considered a course that, although not required, prudent students “must” be sure to take before they graduate (e.g. Evidence, Corporations). Enrollments may be respectable but the class is seldom oversubscribed, even where the law school is located in an insurance hub city. Although other …

Timeless And Ahead Of Its Time: Lach's V. Fidelity & Casualty Of New York, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

The publication of Judge Keeton's important article “inventing” the reasonable expectations doctrine in 1971 is notable for infusing a good deal of intellectual energy into the study of insurance law, particularly judicial decisions about insurance coverage. Keeton's article, which deduced from cases the principle that courts tended to interpret policies to vindicate the objectively reasonable expectations of the insured, has rightly been viewed as a milestone. It clarified an area of law long seen as inconsistent or result-oriented. It spurred additional important scholarship in the area and elevated insurance caselaw from something of a backwater to at least a respectable …

The Insurance Aftermath Of September 11: Myriad Claims, Multiple Lines, Arguments Over Ocurrence Counting, War Risk Exclusions, The Future Of Terrorism Coverage, And New Issues Of Government Role, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

September 11, 2001, is an unforgettable date for many reasons. In addition to its political, social, and historical importance, it may mark a watershed of insurance history as well. The value of the insurance losses due to the collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC) towers is estimated to total at least $35 billion and perhaps $75 billion. In addition, most of the people killed by terrorism were covered by life insurance. Many business operations were affected, invoking possible business interruption coverage. The airplanes that became weapons of destruction carried passengers whose estates are likely to press claims against the …

Classic Insurance Law In A Postmodern World, Leo P. Martinez

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Financial Services In The 21st Century: The Perspective Of Insurance, Jeffrey E. Thomas

Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Insurance, Terrorism, And 9/11: Reflections On Three Threshold Questions, Robert H. Jerry Ii

Faculty Publications

For most of us, the collapse of the World Trade Center towers exists at the outermost edge of human comprehension. Even after one visits Ground Zero, the events of 9/11 retain a surreal quality, invoking feelings beyond words as one tries to contemplate losses immeasurable with numbers. Indeed, the insurance losses are insignificant when compared to the human tragedies caused by the terrorist attacks-and in insurance terms, we witnessed the most costly, complex events to transpire in a single day in the history of the planet. Many years will pass before all the insurance ramifications of 9/11 are sorted out.

The Developing Field Of Elder Law Redux: Ten Years After, Lawrence A. Frolik

Articles

In 1993, Professor Frolik helped initiate The Elder Law Journal's first issue with his essay, The Developing Field of Elder Law: A Historical Perspective. Today, with the publication of the tenth volume of the Journal, Professor Frolik looks back over the past decade to reflect on the changes that have occurred within the field. In the past, he writes, Medicaid planning was thought by many to be the core of an elder law practice. This was not the case ten years ago, however, and it is certainly not true in the twenty-first century; elder law attorneys must practice in multifarious …

Insurance, Terrorism, And 9/11: Reflections On Three Threshold Questions, Robert H. Jerry Ii

UF Law Faculty Publications

For most of us, the collapse of the World Trade Center towers exists at the outermost edge of human comprehension. Even after one visits Ground Zero, the events of 9/11 retain a surreal quality, invoking feelings beyond words as one tries to contemplate losses immeasurable with numbers. Indeed, the insurance losses are insignificant when compared to the human tragedies caused by the terrorist attacks -- and in insurance terms, we witnessed the most costly, complex events to transpire in a single day in the history of the planet. Many years will pass before all the insurance ramifications of 9/11 are …

The Sounds Of Silence: Waiting For Courts To Acknowledge That Public Policy Justifies Awarding Damages To Third Party Claimants When Liability Insurers Deal With Them In Bad Faith, Francis J. Mootz Iii

Scholarly Works

A long-standing and virtually unchallenged doctrinal rule provides that a liability insurance carrier owes no duties in tort or contract to a third-party claimant who has been injured by its insured. As a matter of doctinal consistency and logic, the traditional rule makes some sense. The liability insurer has no contractual relationship with the claimant, and third-party beneficiary doctrine is not easily used to impose duties. Moreover, by stepping into the shoes of the insured tortfeasor to whom it owes a heightened duty of good faith, the insurer is in an adversarial relationship with the claimant that makes it difficult …