Delmonte v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• holding that there was no detriment or manifest injustice when the insurer issued a reservation of rights letter two months after assuming the insured’s defense because the insured “exercised some control over the defense” during that time
• explaining that if the retained attorney breached his ethical duties to his clients, the insureds, and such breach was “causally induced” by the insurer’s action, then the insurer may be liable for bad faith (emphasis added)
• observing that “the general rule is that the insurer . . . owes a duty to appeal in all instances where it appears the substantial interests of the insured may be served” and “reasonable grounds for an appeal exist” (quotation omitted)
• referring to retained counsel’s duty to look after “the best interests of [the] client,” the insured party
• “A cognizable claim of tortious bad faith requires a showing of damage causally related to [the insurer’s] actions.”
• “Even if the ultimate judgment was in excess of the policy limits, the insurer may still be liable for the entire amount if its refusal to settle was unreasonable.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).