Oklahoma Insurance Defense Law Firm for Intervenors/Appellees – Judgment Reversed
Brown v. Patel v. Commercial Union Ins. Co 2007 OK 16
Court: In the Supreme Court of the State of Oklahoma
Case: Appeal from the District Court of Payne County
Final Verdict: Judgment Of District Court Reversed; And Proceeding Is Remanded To The District Court
The company covering Johnny Weldon Brown and Beth Ann Brown (for motor and workers compensation) insurance intervened when the plaintiffs filed a tort action case against an alleged wrongdoer. The Browns disputed the intervention claiming that the insurer "showed bad faith conduct on the part of the insurer toward the insured." The Honorable Donald L. Worthington, District Judge, granted the motion for summary judgment on the bad-faith claim that was plead by the Appellees. The Court stated:
"We granted the insurer's motion to retain the appeal. We hold that an uninsured motorist insurer may, under certain circumstances, intervene in the action brought by its insured against an alleged tortfeasor, and that a judgment for the alleged tortfeasor does not relieve the insurer of all bad faith claims relating to its handling of the uninsured motorist claim."
Representatives of the Oklahoma insurance defense law firm, Buckman and Roach; Loyal J. Roach, Steven V. Buckman and Diane M. Black, represented the Intervenors/Appellees.
Failure to Designate a Life Insurance Policy Beneficiary
Life insurance is something most people don't worry about until they begin to reach an older age, though some situations may come up where you might find yourself involved with the legal matters of a family member if they have included you in their life insurance policy. When a person first acquires a life insurance policy, they have the responsibility to designate an eligible beneficiary to receive the wealth of the policy in the event of their death.
In some cases, things may happen where the insured person either fails to make a designation for a beneficiary or revokes his original designation and doesn't make a new one. Because of this, there may be some disagreement between possibly eligible beneficiaries as to who should be first in line to receive the proceeds from the policy. When this happens, the services of an experienced life insurance attorney may be necessary to help mediate and settle any disputes between possibly beneficiaries.
Statutes
If an insured person fails to name a beneficiary or to replace a revoked beneficiary, the proceeds of the policy are usually payable to the persons fixed by statute as eligible beneficiaries. The order of payment of the benefits also generally follows the order set forth in the statute.
Joint Designations
If a statute sets forth a joint designation of beneficiaries, such as "to the widow and children," and then designates others who will take in the absence of a widow or children, the widow usually takes the entire benefit if there are no children.
Preference for Widow/Widower
When no beneficiary designation has been made, an insured's widow or widower is preferred over other potential beneficiaries, such as the insured's estate. A widow or widower will also usually take where there has been no new designation of a beneficiary upon the death of the former beneficiary. However, if the widow or widower is ineligible to take, the insured's children will be preferred to a person claiming the proceeds as an oral gift.
If you are involved in any disputes regarding a life insurance policy, don't hesitate to get the best legal help you can find. Call the law firm of Parry Deering Futscher & Sparks, P.S.C. to find out how their skilled life insurance lawyers can successfully settle any disagreements over a failed designation of a beneficiary or litigate any other aspects of life and health insurance law.
Dealing with Insurance Companies After an Auto Accident
After a car accident, people often immediately contact their insurance company hoping that they will offer fair compensation for damages. Often, people discover a short time later that many of the costs involved with their claim were not covered. In severe accidents where there is injury as well as considerable vehicle damage, claims will frequently be refuted by insurance companies, and high costs fall upon the victims involved.
Before you decide to negotiate directly with the insurance company, and certainly before you sign any papers or accept any money, you should first consult with an experienced Los Angeles auto accident lawyer who has handled automobile accident cases of the kind related to your claim. Your automobile accident lawyer in Los Angeles can assess the evidence at hand and provide you with a reasonable estimate of what your claim is worth and what you should expect to receive, either through a settlement or in a judgment at trial.
The Effect of Comparative Negligence
Sometimes, both drivers in a car accident are considered to have contributed to the accident. In these situations, the court will assign a percentage of the comparative fault to each party. The allocation of a portion of the negligence does not keep an injured plaintiff from suing, but the amount the person can recover is reduced by the percentage of that person's negligence. Even if the plaintiff is more than 50% at fault, he or she can still recover from a negligent defendant for the portion of that person's negligence which contributed to the accident.
A person's comparative negligence may not have contributed to the accident itself, but may have contributed to the seriousness of the injury. For instance, if the plaintiff was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident and was thrown from the car and suffered a serious car accident injury in Los Angeles, the court may find the plaintiff partially at fault for the seriousness of the injury. Given the ability of the court to severely limit a plaintiff's recovery by allocating fault, it is critical that you be represented by an aggressive Los Angeles car accident attorney who can fight to ensure that the defendant is held fully accountable for his or her negligence or wrongful actions.
Contact an automobile accident lawyer in Los Angeles
Insurance companies make money by charging premiums, not by paying claims. Consequently, insurance companies will do all they can to minimize the amount they pay out. The insurance adjustor will almost always undervalue your claim, offering a settlement far below that which you are entitled to receive. For more information about insurance costs and statistics, see the Insurance Information Institute's article on rising insurance costs.
Even if you are dealing with your own insurance company on an uninsured motorist claim, do not be fooled into thinking that your insurance company is on your side. They will try to pay as little as possible, or deny the claim altogether if they can, the same as if it were the other driver's insurance company. For this reason, it is always in your best interest to contact an experienced auto accident attorney in Los Angeles after a serious accident.
Conduct interviews with prospective Phoenix business law attorneys
After you develop a list of prospects of what you want in a business attorney, at this point, it may help to conduct interviews with the attorneys to get more specific information. Try asking them the following kinds of questions:
- What are your areas of practice and expertise?
- Do you have experience with my particular business and legal needs?
- What professional honors or distinctions do you have?
- How well do you understand the needs of small businesses?
- What are your legal fees and how is billing handled?
- Are you qualified to handle arbitration and mediation as well as litigation?
Handling arbitration and business litigation in Phoenix
A Phoenix business attorney from Galbut & Galbut, P.C. understands the needs of small businesses. Galbut & Galbut attorneys apply their legal skills and diverse experience to all types of business transactions and organizations. Many of the clients served by Galbut & Galbut are referrals from reputable lawyers and business sources.
While they are skilled and accomplished at business litigation, the legal Phoenix small business attorney team at Galbut & Galbut is also experienced with alternative dispute resolution (ADR) techniques, such as arbitration and mediation. ADR is beneficial to small businesses because these out of court solutions save time and money compared to business litigation in Phoenix.
Copyright © 2011 LexisNexis. All rights reserved.