August 2009

On August 13, 2009, the City of Sterling Heights, Michigan received a check from United National Insurance Company for over $15.4 million, satisfying a judgment awarded by the federal district court for the Eastern District of Michigan and upheld on appeal by the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.  Apart from this payment, United National and Sterling Heights will continue to litigate the amount of additional damages that the Sixth Circuit determined to be due to the City.
Continue Reading Insurance Company Pays Up, Resolving Unallocated Settlement and Defense Costs

This post was also written by Michael N. DiCanio.

In a recent decision Magistrate Judge David A. Baker rejected insurance company Daubert motion to exclude the expert testimony of an architect, a structural engineer, and an accountant designated in an insurance coverage case. Bray & Gillespie v. Hartford et al, Case No. 6:07-cv-00326 –DAB (M.D. Fla. April 20, 2009).

The defendants’ had moved to exclude the testimony of B&G’s accountant and his conclusions regarding the amount of business interruption loss suffered. They did not challenge the methodology of his calculations, but rather took issue with the fact that he allegedly used the wrong numbers and did not provide a period of restoration. Denying the motion, Judge Baker held that this was not a proper ground for excluding the testimony under Daubert, see Quiet Technology, 326 F.3d at 1345-46 (using incorrect numbers in a reliable formula is not grounds for exclusion), and held that the particular issue of limiting the damage calculation with respect to a period of restoration is a matter of factual and legal dispute in this case.Continue Reading Insurers Denied De Facto Win After Losing Daubert Motion