Brian J.E. Brock

The plaintiff brought a motion for summary judgment against his insurer for the theft of a $550,000 heirloom ring and a gold chain while on vacation in the Dominican Republic.

The insurer denied the claim, alleging insufficient proof and lack of cooperation, but expressly declined to plead fraud.

The court found the plaintiff had fully cooperated and proven his loss.

The court granted summary judgment for the value of the ring and chain, and awarded $50,000 in punitive damages due to the insurer's bad faith conduct in stringing the plaintiff along after secretly deciding to deny the claim.

At the opening of a scheduled 7-week trial, the defendant insurer brought a motion for an adjournment due to the plaintiff's late disclosure of physical evidence and additional documents.

The plaintiff had disclosed the existence of particles and other physical evidence relevant to the cause of the equipment failure just weeks before trial.

The court found that it would be unjust to force the defendant to proceed without an opportunity to obtain expert advice and conduct further discovery on the newly disclosed evidence.

The motion for an adjournment was granted.

Following a 20‑day trial in which the plaintiffs obtained judgment exceeding $2.3 million against their insurance broker for failure to procure appropriate coverage, the court determined issues relating to the calculation of the judgment, costs, and interest.

The plaintiffs had delivered a Rule 49 offer to settle for $1.95 million plus interest and costs, which was less than the amount ultimately awarded at trial.

Applying Rule 49.10 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, the court held that the plaintiffs were entitled to partial indemnity costs up to the date of the offer and substantial indemnity costs thereafter.

Considering proportionality, the conduct of the parties, the length of the trial, and duplication arising from a change of counsel, the court reduced the plaintiffs’ claimed costs and fixed total costs at $475,000 plus disbursements.