Media Coverage
Source: Law360
Media Coverage
08.13.15
Law360 reports that inconsistencies between internal communications at three American Insurance Group (AIG) companies and statements to their client, Victaulic Co., were ultimately the undoing for AIG at a California breach of contract and bad faith trial.
The Alameda County (Calif.) Superior Court trial culminated last week in a $55 million verdict in favor of Victaulic, including $46 million in punitive damages. Pillsbury Litigation and Insurance Recovery & Advisory partners Joseph D. Jean and Colin T. Kemp, along with counsel Jeffrey A. Kiburtz, represented Victaulic in the litigation, which revolved around several underlying product liability claims against the pipe-joining equipment provider for which the AIG companies had denied coverage.
The Pillsbury team demonstrated AIG’s attempts to “take back AIG’s promise to protect Victaulic and otherwise make every step toward getting coverage difficult for Victaulic,” Jean said.
For instance, the lawyers were able to show that claims handlers sought to initiate litigation in specific jurisdictions they considered to be favorable instead of providing coverage for Victaulic’s claims.
“I think that was one of the more devastating things we presented in the trial,” Jean said.
In addition, the Pillsbury team was able to point to contradictions between internal AIG notes about the claims, on one hand, and statements AIG made to Victaulic in external emails and letters, on the other hand, that supported Victaulic’s allegations of bad faith and malicious claims handling.
“It’s very powerful when you have evidence of internal conclusions being made, and what is being communicated to the policyholder is totally at odds with those conclusions,” Kemp told Law360.
Read the full Law360 article here.
Additional Law360 coverage of the verdict can be found here (subscription required).