Andrew Wright and Andrew McDaniel secured a dismissal of a significant bad faith lawsuit against an insurance client. The case arose out of a wrongful death lawsuit against the insured. The insurer defended the lawsuit until the depleting limits of the policy ran out, and then withdrew from the defense after obtaining direction from a Utah court that it was entitled to do so.
The estate went on to obtain a $60 million judgment against the insured, which the insured did not contest. The estate then took an assignment and filed a “bad faith” lawsuit against the insurance company, alleging it had improperly handled the claim and should be required to pay the full judgment. Ultimately, the court granted several motions filed by Strong & Hanni, and ultimately dismissed the lawsuit on summary judgment.
