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An Insurer's Willful or Knowing Violation of Mass. Gen. Law, Ch. 93A, ' 9
Earlier this year, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts issued its much anticipated decision, Rhodes v. AIG Domestic Claims, Inc., 461 Mass. 486 (2012), clarifying the scope of damages when an insurer is found to have willfully or knowingly committed an unfair settlement practice in violation of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act (M.G.L. c. 93A, ' 9).
In awarding sanctions totaling $22 million, the court determined that the measure of damages for an insurer's willful or knowing violation of ' 9 of Massachusetts' prohibition of unfair settlement practices must be calculated as a multiple of the underlying tort judgment rather than the actual harm caused by the insurer's conduct. On the other hand, where the underlying tort claim settled prior to entry of a judgment, damages will be determined as a multiple of the actual harm caused by the insurer's violation.
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.
Protecting Innovation in the Cyber World from Patent Trolls
With trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.