Bad faith allegations are a potent weapon for policyholders in coverage litigation to negotiate for a higher settlement due to the risk of an unacceptable jury award. In order to leverage this tool, policyholder counsel must carefully draft complaint allegations to survive a motion to dismiss.

Expert witnesses play a critical role in bad faith litigation, both for policyholders and insurers. Insurance experts typically are underwriters, claims handlers, brokers, regulators and attorneys with knowledge of insurance industry customs.

Insurers must weigh the pros and cons of bifurcating the coverage trial from the bad faith trial. Bifurcation may be imperative if the “bad” evidence regarding the bad faith claim may negatively impact the jury’s perception of the underlying coverage case.

Bifurcation also may enable the insurer to protect the claims file from discovery if the bad faith claim is stayed pending resolution of the contract issues.

Listen as our authoritative panel of insurance practitioners imparts insight on bad faith pre-trial strategies for both insurers and policyholders. The panel will discuss demand letters, drafting and answering bad faith complaints, proving and opposing damages, bifurcation of coverage and bad faith issues, and use of expert witnesses.

The panel will review these and other key issues:

• What facts regarding the insurer’s actions should policyholders include in the complaint to survive a motion to dismiss?
• What industry experts are best suited for bad faith claims, and what are common challenges or objections to their testimony?
• What factors should insurers consider in deciding whether to move to bifurcate the coverage trial from the bad faith trial?