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Ninth Circuit Amends Recent Decision
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has issued an amended decision, Docket No. 10-56422, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 20887, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 20889, 2012 WL 4748679, (9th Cir. Cal. Oct. 5, 2012), to retract Du v. Allstate Ins. Co. et al., 681 F.3d 1118, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 11755, 2012 WL 2086584 (9th Cir. Cal. 2012), in which the court opined that, under California law, an insurer has a duty to promptly effectuate settlement when liability of its insured is reasonably clear, even absent a settlement demand by the claimant. The amended decision, filed on Oct. 5, 2012, supplanted the prior decision, issued on June 11, 2012, to limit the holding to the issue of whether a foundation existed for the jury instruction sought by Du with regard to bad faith and the insurer's settlement obligation. The Insurance Coverage Law Bulletin reported on the prior decision in September.
Joon Hak Kim (“Kim”), an insured of Allstate subsidiary Deerbrook Insurance Company (“Deerbrook”), caused a collision that injured appellant Yang Fang Du (“Du”). Kim's policy with Deerbrook had liability limits of $100,000/$300,000. Deerbrook attempted to obtain medical documentation for the next year, and notwithstanding a lack of cooperation by Du and Kim, accepted Kim's liability. Deerbrook eventually made several attempts to achieve a global settlement (Du's lawyer made a $300,000 global settlement demand for all four injured parties, but Deerbrook advised that there was insufficient information to settle; Deerbrook later tried to settle just Du's claim by offering $100,000, which was rejected). Du then filed a lawsuit against Kim and obtained a $4.1 million judgment. Kim then assigned his claim to Du, and Du brought suit against Deerbrook alleging bad faith and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTs
A federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.
Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners
Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
Coverage Issues Stemming from Dry Cleaner Contamination Suits
In recent years, there has been a growing number of dry cleaners claiming to be "organic," "green," or "eco-friendly." While that may be true with respect to some, many dry cleaners continue to use a cleaning method involving the use of a solvent called perchloroethylene, commonly known as perc. And, there seems to be an increasing number of lawsuits stemming from environmental problems associated with historic dry cleaning operations utilizing this chemical.