Issue Being a Named Defendant?

First, talk to admissions and find out if this is a problem. (I once had a client who wanted to enlist in the Air Force and her recruiter told her that she could not enlist while there was any pending litigation because if she was subpoenaed to testify while she was in the Air Force it could interfere with her training or duty. I don't know if that is true.)

I am an attorney for an insurance company. USAA has the contractual right to determine whether to settle, when to settle and for how much. However, their attorney still has ethical obligations both to your son and the insurance company. In this situation it sounds like USAA would settle quickly if Plaintiff is willing to be reasonable. You need to speak to the adjuster at USAA as well as the attorney they hired and find out if Plaintiff has made a demand and for how much. It would not hurt to send a letter to USAA stating that if their failure to settle in a timely and reasonable manner damages you son's academic plans, you will hold them responsible. I am curious about your policy limits too. If you want to PM me, I will give you my best advice. Also, what state are you in?
 
Last edited:
Korab said:
It might not, but a good attorney experienced in such things can at least make the insurance company think twice. Failing to resolve the claim quickly could be considered bad faith, costing the OP a 500k scholarship that OP will sue for - that’s the argument anyway. Have to couch it in a way that OP will experience monetary damages the insurance company will be responsible for. It’s the only language insurance companies understand.
Click to expand...
I see. You're assuming that OP's USAA attorney is from a third-party firm (with an incentive to churn). I was assuming that USAA has its own in-house attorneys (who want the case settled promptly and efficiently). I suppose it would be helpful to know which one is correct, although, again, I'm not sure either way there's much that can be done to force settlement.
 
Read the complaint - does the plaintiff allege ongoing medical or psychological issues?

Is the amount being sued for higher or lower than the policy limits?
 
Korab said:
Ridiculous? You should really know what you are talking about before making claims like that. Nominally, your interests are the same as the insurance company’s but not in this instance. The OP’s interest is in getting the case resolved as quickly as possible without regard to cost so long as it is within the policy limits. The insurance company’s interest is to pay as little as possible without regard to time. In fact, they prefer to delay these cases, because in the interim, the cash they use to pay these settlements is sitting and earning interest at ever increasing amounts. The insurance company’s lawyer’s interest is to churn the file to create billable hours for himself, as he gets paid by the hour. 3 different sets of interests, and only the OP’s involves resolving the case before I-day. He should get his own attorney.
Click to expand...
My three decades of experience in this exact field would say otherwise. In all due respect, your assessment of how the defendant insurance company operates in this situation certainly plays to your "evil insurance company scheme" but doesn't occur that way in reality. The insurance carrier very much wants to address and close this quickly because they are intimately aware that a claim that drags on simply costs more money.
 
NJROTC-CC said:
First, talk to admissions and find out if this is a problem. (I once had a client who wanted to enlist in the Air Force and her recruiter told her that she could not enlist while there was any pending litigation because if she was subpoenaed to testify while she was in the Air Force it could interfere with her training or duty. I don't know if that is true.)

I am an attorney for an insurance company. USAA has the contractual right to determine whether to settle, when to settle and for how much. However, their attorney still has ethical obligations both to your son and the insurance company. In this situation it sounds like USAA would settle quickly if Plaintiff is willing to be reasonable. You need to speak to the adjuster at USAA as well as the attorney they hired and find out if Plaintiff has made a demand and for how much. It would not hurt to send a letter to USAA stating that if their failure to settle in a timely and reasonable manner damages you son's academic plans, you will hold them responsible. I am curious about your policy limits too. If you want to PM me, I will give you my best advice. Also, what state are you in?
Click to expand...
The state is key. If OP posts that publicly, perhaps someone with local knowledge can help.
 
jebdad said:
My three decades of experience in this exact field would say otherwise. In all due respect, your assessment of how the defendant insurance company operates in this situation certainly plays to your "evil insurance company scheme" but doesn't occur that way in reality. The insurance carrier very much wants to address and close this quickly because they are intimately aware that a claim that drags on simply costs more money.
Click to expand...
Lol. Insurance defense lawyer - would have bet my last dollar on that.

Whether the OPs assigned defense lawyer is in house or private makes a difference for sure he should find that out. But either way, the best interest of the insured is never paramount.
 
A1Janitor said:
I filed a defamation lawsuit against a woman pro se last year.

Her legal expenses and settlement were paid by insurance. The lawyer was hired by insurance company. It is ended quickly when I was willing to lower the settlement to an amount that was worth it to settle to the insurance company. I could have dragged it out if I wanted.

I have a close lawyer friend that does this type of work in NY. I have reached out to him for any advice to get it settled faster.
Click to expand...
Thank you! FWIW, we're in Ohio.
 
Korab said:
The state is key. If OP posts that publicly, perhaps someone with local knowledge can help.
Click to expand...
Korab - we're in Ohio (a few miles north of Dayton). The law firm that the plaintiff hired is a large personal injury firm with 20 offices across the state. As I understand it, USAA has a legal department, separate from the adjuster. The legal department secured an outside defense firm. The plaintiff has not provided a single medical record to USAA despite the adjuster requesting them several times. Now the defense attorney will demand them from the plaintiff's attorney and provide a response to the Court before the 28-day suspense (so by 17 March). The plaintiff claims pain and suffering, ongoing for undefined period. Also lost work for a "defined" period (albeit not stated in the summons). Yet the plaintiff is also suing their own insurance company, State Farm, for not honoring uninsured/underinsured coverage that they paid for. Not sure if State Farm wasn't paying the 20% or why the plaintiff is going after them for not paying uninsured/underinsured - we most definitely had full coverages.
 
skpiel98 said:
Korab - we're in Ohio (a few miles north of Dayton). The law firm that the plaintiff hired is a large personal injury firm with 20 offices across the state. As I understand it, USAA has a legal department, separate from the adjuster. The legal department secured an outside defense firm. The plaintiff has not provided a single medical record to USAA despite the adjuster requesting them several times. Now the defense attorney will demand them from the plaintiff's attorney and provide a response to the Court before the 28-day suspense (so by 17 March). The plaintiff claims pain and suffering, ongoing for undefined period. Also lost work for a "defined" period (albeit not stated in the summons). Yet the plaintiff is also suing their own insurance company, State Farm, for not honoring uninsured/underinsured coverage that they paid for. Not sure if State Farm wasn't paying the 20% or why the plaintiff is going after them for not paying uninsured/underinsured - we most definitely had full coverages.
Click to expand...
I can explain some of this to you if you PM me
 
When the plaintiff is unreasonable and their lawyers are unethical bulldogs …

Based on my experience - lawyers that work for insurance companies are top notch.
 
Korab said:
Lol. Insurance defense lawyer - would have bet my last dollar on that.

Whether the OPs assigned defense lawyer is in house or private makes a difference for sure he should find that out. But either way, the best interest of the insured is never paramount.
Click to expand...
Haha. You would have lost that last dollar. Suffice to say that in my work I deal with both plaintiff and defense attorneys. Any insurance company hired outside defense attorney that operates the way you say, wouldn't be working for that insurance company for long.
 
The contracted lawyers are experienced - and won’t do anything to jeopardize that source of income.

In the various cases I have seen, a lawyer from the insurance company was always cc’d on communications.
 
Nice posts above. I'll just add a choice to tell opposing counsel you have a deadline by which you would greatly benefit to have this case resolved by, would potentially weaken your bargaining power - if they know you are timeboxed they can delay, stall, and at the 23rd hour propose a settlement double what you or your counsel would feel is fair. Because maybe your family would cover the difference in order to protect your USNA dream to avoid you being subpoenaed on campus, impacting your military SA journey etc. just something for you to consider. By now has your young adult reached admissions - did they tell you anything that can help the board and future readers? Thanks.
 
Have you tried to have your son removed as a defendant? I think there would be a fair shot of having the case dismissed against your son; given 1. he was fully insured at the time of the accident and 2. he was presumably a minor. 3. I am assuming that being fully insured, your insurance would cover up to the legal cap for this type of (as you described, minor) injury. I know without having the medical records it is difficult to estimate the potential cap, but just because he was named, doesn't mean he has any actual liability. Personal injury attorneys can throw a pretty wide net to bring in as many potential payouts as possible. I would ask your own attorney and consult with the insurance company's provided counsel.
 
I spoke with the defense attorney retained by USAA to represent our son. He fully appreciates and understands the tight timeline and what's at stake WRT our son's appointment. He already filed a response with the court with a general denial, submitted an interrogatory request for production of documents (min timeline he could demand is 30 days out), as well as filed for the deposition (scheduled for 40 days out, so 10 April). He spoke with the plaintiff's attorney and expressed USAA's interest in getting this claim settled as quickly as possible (did not explain why... we don't want to give them leverage to drag it out or hold out for a higher settlement). Since these personal injury suits are contingency-based, plaintiff attorneys are typically motivated to settle quickly with minimal work on their part. In speaking with the plaintiff attorney, our attorney told us that the plaintiff (or at least the plaintiff's attorney) is eager to settle quickly, which is good news. Oddly, the plaintiff came to her attorney with only three weeks left in the statute of limitations and said she wanted to file a lawsuit. But she couldn't produce a single medical record at the time, nor any proof of lost work or wages!! So we're waiting the 30 days (hopefully less) so she can provide those documents to her attorney to pass to ours. Our attorney is a managing partner at a law firm. He has 25 years experience, 19 of which has been representing USAA members. He said that only 10% of personal injury suits settle within 90 days. But then also said not to sweat it, that he thinks we'll get this done in time for our son to get to USAFA. We hope so!! Oh, it doesn't matter that our son was barely 16 (and therefore a minor) when the accident occurred. The Complaint was filed with the Court just after he turned 18, and he was therefore of age / an adult. We are going to hold off until after 10 April to formally contact USAFA Admissions. By then we will have more information and answers to share with them.
 
Excellent news. I don’t trust opposing attorneys, so hopefully it goes well.

I would contact them now. You may be worrying for nothing and how will it look if it doesn’t settle timely, and you waited?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top