Mesmer v. Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund

How courts have described this case

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

• holding that liability arising out of a contractual obligation does not give rise to a negligence claim
• holding that liability arising out of a contractual obligation does not give rise to a negligence claim
• noting, but not deciding, question whether MAIF enjoys sovereign immunity with respect to tort claims for bad faith failure to settle a claim
• stating that “when the defendant has proceeded on the basis that a contractual obligation exists, has undertaken that obligation, and has undertaken it in violation of the appropriate standard of care . . . the plaintiff may, in some circumstances, maintain a tort action”
• allowing an insured to recover “expenses and attorney fees in a separate contract or declaratory judgment action if such action is filed to establish that there exists a duty to defend.”
• “We have repeatedly indicated that the obligation to defend and the obligation to indemnify are entirely contractual.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).