Bad Faith Insurance Claims in Pennsylvania Training Class Presented by NBI, Inc.

When is it Really “Bad Faith”?

This seminar will provide you with the cutting-edge knowledge and concrete skills you need to avoid traps and reach your goals in your next bad faith case. Whether you’re counsel for the plaintiff, the defense, or are an insurance professional trying to prevent bad faith claims, you won’t find instruction this practical anywhere else. Register today!

• Get a crucial review of bad faith elements, including the different types of claims and the remedies associated with them.
• Clarify recent legislative acts and integrate new findings into your case to help you win.
• Sort through the related causes of action like breach of contract and fraud to accurately determine the validity of the claim.
• Know exactly how to work with experts so they help – not hurt – your case.
• Cover all the bases when requesting production of discovery – and get all the facts you need to support and prove your case.
• Benefit from the speakers’ extensive experience in choosing and deposing witnesses – learn what questions to ask to turn a witness into an advocate for your side.
• Make ethics a non-issue in your practice by following accepted ethical tenets.
• Analyze discovery strategy from both the plaintiff’s and defendant’s point of view and gain a perspective that will help you build a winning trial strategy.
• Master pre-trial and trial strategies that will give you new confidence and a clear advantage when dealing with claims.
• Discover what insurance professionals can do to proactively prevent bad faith.

Agenda

1. CURRENT LAWS UPDATE AND BAD FAITH TRENDS
   9:00 – 9:45, Richard Ernsberger
   1. What is Bad Faith? Differing Standards in Different Jurisdictions and Venues
   2. Legislative Overview: What the Courts are Ruling
   3. New Case Law Development – Interpreted
   4. Other Emerging Issues
   5. Insurer Duties and State Insurance Fair Practices
   6. Current Bad Faith Claim Trends

2. EVALUATING THE CLAIM AND TAKING FIRST STEPS
   9:45 – 10:30, Christopher M. Jacobs
   1. First-Party vs. Third-Party Claims
   2. Exploring Related Causes of Action
   3. Identifying Statute of Limitations and Other Potential Roadblocks
   4. Common Law vs. Statutory Bad Faith
   5. The Plaintiff’s Preliminary Steps:
      1. Communicate with Insurer and Thoroughly Review the Policy
      2. Choose the Cause of Action and Establish Damages

   6. The Insurer’s Guidelines:
      1. Preliminary Negotiation Strategies
      2. Know the Types of Responsive Pleadings

   7. The Selection and Use of Experts
   8. How-to’s for Establishing Choice of Venue
   9. Potentially Explosive Traps to Avoid

3. INVESTIGATION, DISCOVERY, PLEADINGS AND MOTIONS
   10:45 – 11:30, John J. Berry
   1. Digging Deep into the Policy, Language, Terms and Coverage
   2. Information You Absolutely Need – Where to Find It
   3. Drafting and Using Interrogatories, Requests for Admission and Other Docs
   4. Cover All Your Bases When Requesting Documents
   5. Producing and Responding to Discovery
   6. When and Who to Depose and How to Prepare Witnesses
   7. Streamline Your Job with Sample Discovery Forms and Requests
   8. Effective Use of Pleadings and Motions

4. DEFENSE PERSPECTIVES
   12:30 – 1:30, Tara L. Maczuzak
   1. Demand Letter Responses – Avoiding Mismanagement
   2. Finding Flaws in the Complaint
   3. Proven Bad Faith Defenses
   4. Negotiation Tactics
   5. How to Get Out of an Unfavorable Court
   6. Bifurcating Coverage and Bad Faith Issues
   7. Challenges to Admission of Claims Professional Testimony and Other Evidence
   8. Defending Against Bad Faith in Court: Pointers From Voir Dire to Verdict
   9. Applying Key Case Law to Your Case
   10. Avoiding Bad Faith Claims for the Insurance Professional: Complying with the Unfair Claim Settlement Practices Act

5. INSURANCE BAD FAITH “SETUPS”
   1:30 – 2:15, Adam M. Barnes
   1. Bad Faith Law and the Origin of the Setup
   2. Tactics Used to Set Up Insurance Companies for Bad Faith Claims
   3. Responding to a Potential Bad Faith Setup
   4. Investigation, Documentation and Evidence of Bad Faith Setup
   5. Defenses in a Bad Faith Suit

6. SETTLEMENT AND TRIAL TACTICS
   2:15 – 3:15, Mark A. May
   1. Evaluating Chances for Summary Judgment
   2. Proving Bad Faith
   3. Demands Within Policy Limits
   4. Negotiating Excess Judgment
   5. Voir Dire: The First Essential Step in Winning the Case
   6. What You Must Accomplish in Opening and Closing Statements
   7. How to Create an Order of Witnesses
   8. What to do When You Have a “Bad” Witness
   9. Effective Use of Evidence
   10. Handling Post-Trial Procedures and Appeal

7. LEGAL ETHICS IN BAD FAITH PRACTICE
   3:30 – 4:30, John J. Berry
   1. Navigating the Ethics of the “Tripartite Relationship”
   2. Protecting the Attorney-Client Privilege
   3. Guarding Confidentiality
   4. How the Advice of Counsel Defense Can Become an Issue
   5. Attorney Fees and the Federal Bad Faith Exception (Undue Burden)
   6. The Ethical Pitfalls in Contacting Witnesses