Thomas v. Western World Ins. 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 when an insurer's refusal to defend is unjustified, the insurer is liable for attorney's fees and other costs incurred in the underlying action
• noting “it is black-letter contract law that a party suffering a breach is obligated to take all reasonable means to protect himself and mitigate his damages”
• reversing grant of summary judgment where reasonableness of mitigation efforts “depend[ed] upon all relevant facts” and “circumstances” (alteration added)
• allowing a claim to proceed where the carrier “wrongfully refused to comply with its contract to provide a defense on behalf of its insureds”
• “It seems only fair that an insurer whose contracts are by their very nature ‘adhesive’ should be held to at least the same standard of damages applicable to other contracting parties.”
• settlement offer not an “essential element” to excess liability

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).