Insurance Bad Faith
Insurance companies are supposed to sell protection and peace of mind. They sell policies to their policyholders to protect homes and vehicles, and to provide liability coverage. This means providing a legal defense in the form of an appointed lawyer, as well as indemnity – meaning that they will pay for damages you have caused up to your policy limits. This is what they are supposed to do.
Bad faith cases arise when the insurance company fails to do its job. The first type of case, called a first-party case, is where your insurance company fails to do what you paid them to do. For instance, if your house catches fire and the insurance company fails to pay you for your losses, even if covered. You may ask: how can this happen? Unfortunately, for many reasons, mostly based upon greed and sharp practices, the insurance company will try to take advantage of you while you are in a compromised and weakened position. In fact, they will even play "hardball" with inexperienced lawyers.
The other common type of case, called a third-party bad faith case, arises out of the same insurance company greed, except this time you are filing a claim against another for the damage they have caused you. If their insurance company fails to pay the claim on time, you may have an opportunity to later join forces with the person who caused you your damage and go after their insurance company for the full judgment, even if the other person's insurance policy was much smaller than the judgment you received.
Needless to say, this is bare-fisted litigation and you need a trial lawyer who knows the insurance company’s tactics and tricks – to beat them at their own game. This we know how to do.
Business Cases commonly arise out of unfair competition, unfair business practices, the stealing of trade secrets or an idea, or even flat out fraud. Generally speaking, most firms take these cases on an hourly fee basis, which can get extremely costly for the damaged party. We endeavor to take these cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning no recovery, no fee. Sometimes due to the complexity of the case, we will work out a hybrid fee that satisfies all parties.
