Lucas, Mullany Informs School Districts in State About Insurance Policies
The latest report by Pennsylvania-based Jury Verdict Research shows juries across the nation awarded nearly $342,000 to plaintiffs in business-negligence cases , that’s a 37 percent increase from 1998, and 128 percent since 1994.
Business negligence suits are those where plaintiffs were injured as a result of employee, company or company-agent negligence.
The 54-page study, “Current Award Trends in Personal Injury, 2000 Edition,” also shows jury awards for product-liability suits jumped 44 percent in 1999 and 228 percent since 1997.
However, the national jury award median for personal injury claims stayed the same at $50,000 in both 1998 and 1999.
“Current Award Trends in Personal Injury” has analyzed five- to 10-year jury verdict trends since 1965 for selected injuries and liabilities. The most recent study summarized personal injury from 1993 to 1999 across the nation.
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Insurance Notice: The La Jolla law firm of Lucas, Mullany, Boyer and Haverkamp is sending a message to all California school districts regarding their insurance policies. According to the firm, there have been problems with districts being refused service by Coregis Insurance, which uses San Diego broker/wholesaler California Institutional Insurance Agency.
In 1994 and 1996, according to the law firm, Coregis Insurance refused to defend the Fresno Unified School District against two different discrimination lawsuits, even though the district has an extra insurance rider to provide defense and indemnity coverage against such claims.
The extra cost for the rider is $7,000 annually for all California schools. The Fresno school district sued Coregis and was originally awarded $13 million in punitive damages and $1.4 million in compensatory costs by the jury.
“The jury saw right through Coregis’ ploys to deny insurance coverage to the district,” said Albert E. Haverkamp. “They sent a loud and clear message through their punitive damage award that it will not tolerate such egregious conduct.
“The verdict also sends a wake-up call to risk managers to be especially vigilant in reviewing the coverage provisions under their policies.”
Months later, a Sacramento County Superior Court judge reduced the punitive damages for the district to $5 million.
Coregis spokesperson Jay Anderson said the company is appealing the decision.
“We disagree with the decision of the court, and we will appeal the awarded punitive damages,” Anderson said.
Because of the pending litigation, Anderson said, he could not comment on the specifics of the case.
Before 1994, according to the law firm, two San Diego-area school districts and the San Ysidro school district also sued Coregis Insurance, alleging they had been improperly denied coverage for discrimination claims while insured under policy endorsements/riders. All three districts won their cases.
Bar Awards: The San Diego County Bar Association recently awarded more than $25,000 in grants to six San Diego agencies for services ranging from technology assistance to program seed money. Contributions were given to the following: the Center for Community Solutions ($5,000); Being Alive San Diego ($3,000); Kids’ Turn, San Diego ($5,000); the Griffin & Wong Institute, Real Solutions Center for Children ($3,000); Volunteers in Parole, San Diego County ($3,500); and Progressive Social Services Systems Technology Inc. ($6,000).
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Joining Up: Three San Diego attorneys recently teamed up to form the Front Line Law Group in Vista. The partnership consists of Joseph Adelizzi, Michael Fremont and John Patterson. The firm will concentrate on contested divorce litigation and criminal law. The San Diego law firm of Hayes Simpson Greene LLP recently elected Peter A. Botz and Kenneth R. Wright as partners in the San Diego office. The firm also added Douglas P. Smith and Thomas D. Arnold as partners and J. Peter Gyben as of counsel in the firm’s Orange County office. The San Diego office of Baker & McKenzie recently elected Renee S. Schor as partner. Schor will join the firm’s employment law practice group, specializing in counseling and litigation of employment matters. Her practice includes creation of policies and practices to provide companies protection against employee claims of wrongful termination, or labor practices.
The deadline for the next law column is Feb. 15. Please send related items to dward@sdbj.com.
