Unfair settlement practices by insurer punished by multiple punitive damages *

USA - June 13 2012
In a recent case the Supreme Judicial Court for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (“SJC”) ruled that an insurer found to have engaged in unfair settlement practices must pay damages of $22.6 million based on “willful and knowing” failures to effect a “prompt, fair and reasonable” settlement of a very serious personal injury claim as to which liability and damages were reasonably clear at an early date.

When estate planning disfavors one of several children, the risk of litigation increases *

USA - June 13 2012
In Ennenga v. Starns (09-3118 ) (7th Cir. decided April 17, 2012), the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit found in favor of legal professionals as to malpractice claims based on facts which a factual record shows how easily ordinary estate planning can lead to intra-family litigation.

Auditor’s private use of attorney mental impressions are protected from disclosure in later litigation *

USA - November 15 2010
In United States v. Deloitte LLP, 610 F.3d 129 (D.C. Cir., June 29, 2010), the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia recently held that outside auditors’ record of an attorney’s mental impressions is protected from disclosure in later litigation even though the outside auditors, not the company’s outside attorneys, initially recorded the mental impressions of the attorneys.