a. The Northern District of Iowa, citing multiple Eight Circuit decisions, has held that the is also “claims adjusting procedure something about which the average juror is unlikely to have sufficient knowledge or experience to form an opinion without expert guidance, thus expert testimony would not be superfluous. Furthermore, such testimony does indeed relate to issues in the case.” b. In v. the Court excluded the Kraeger Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., bad faith expert on a motion The Court in limine. insured’s discussed the following factors: (1) testimony about the practice of insurance claim management and evaluation, along with statutory or regulatory standards to be met by insurance companies, can be helpful to the of whether a claim was handled in jury’s evaluation bad faith; (2) the expert cannot derive legal conclusions that the insurer violated a statute or displayed bad faith; (3) the expert testimony provides that, based on expertise and witness’ expert’s experience, the insurer did not act reasonably. 7. Use internal documents to establish standard. 8. Look at industry custom and practice. a. The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that expert testimony can be taken into account to determine an insurer had acted “whether unreasonably in denying or delaying approval of a based on claim” the industry standards of conduct. In the insured South Park, presented expert testimony from a claim consultant with more than twenty years of experience in the industry. The witness testified that the reasonableness of an insurance determination of adjuster’s coverage should be assessed based on things an adjuster “the ordinarily does and reasonably to industry does” according standards. b. In applying Michigan law, the Sixth Circuit held in North v. that case of which this American Specialty Ins. Co. Myers “no court is aware, imposes a duty on an insurer to deliver the policy promptly where the policy is already in effect; there is no general duty to comply with industry standards.” 9. Communication with Expert (protections of Rule 26(b)).
a. The Northern District of Iowa, citing multiple Eight Circuit decisions, has held that the “claims adjusting procedure is also something about which the average juror is unlikely to have sufficient knowledge or experience to form an opinion without expert guidance, thus expert testimony would not be superfluous. Furthermore, such testimony does indeed relate to issues in the case.” b. In Kraeger v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., the Court excluded the insured’s bad faith expert on a motion in limine. The Court discussed the following factors: (1) testimony about the practice of insurance claim management and evaluation, along with statutory or regulatory standards to be met by insurance companies, can be helpful to the jury’s evaluation of whether a claim was handled in bad faith; (2) the expert cannot derive legal conclusions that the insurer violated a statute or displayed bad faith; (3) the expert witness’ testimony provides that, based on expert’s expertise and experience, the insurer did not act reasonably. 7. Use internal documents to establish standard. 8. Look at industry custom and practice. a. The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that expert testimony can be taken into account to determine “whether an insurer had acted unreasonably in denying or delaying approval of a claim” based on the industry standards of conduct. In South Park, the insured presented expert testimony from a claim consultant with more than twenty years of experience in the industry. The witness testified that the reasonableness of an insurance adjuster’s determination of coverage should be assessed based on “the things an adjuster ordinarily does and reasonably does” according to industry standards. b. In applying Michigan law, the Sixth Circuit held in North American Specialty Ins. Co. v. Myers that “no case of which this court is aware, imposes a duty on an insurer to deliver the policy promptly where the policy is already in effect; there is no general duty to comply with industry standards.” 9. Communication with Expert (protections of Rule 26(b)).
Webinar-Outline-Experts-in-Bad-Faith-Cases.docx