Pleading Insurer Bad Faith Claims: Surviving or Filing a Motion to Dismiss

Robert M. Horkovich and Mark Garbowski to speak on a panel at the Strafford Publications CLE Webinar on 'Pleading Insurer Bad Faith Claims: Surviving or Filing a Motion to Dismiss - Navigating Evolving Bad Faith Pleading Standards Post Iqbal and Twombly' on Wednesday, August 13, 2014 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT.

This CLE webinar will discuss pleadings standards for insurer bad faith claims, what plaintiffs must allege to survive a motion to dismiss and how insurers can leverage tougher pleadings standards to win a motion to dismiss. The program will look at case law developments and how the courts have been applying the tougher pleadings standards to bad faith claims, and best practices for both the policyholder and insurer in pursuing or defending these claims at early motion stage.

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.

Insurer counsel must be prepared to leverage the Iqbal/Twombly heightened pleadings standards with respect to bad faith allegations, especially in conjunction with a declaratory judgment or breach of contract action.

When insureds fail to adequately specify how the insurer's actions were unreasonable, post-Conley tougher pleading requirements can be a powerful took for insurers to attack the sufficiency of the allegations.

Listen as our panel offers strategies for leveraging pleadings standards in insurer bad faith litigation and provides insights into how plaintiffs can survive a motion to dismiss and insurers can win the dismissal. The panel will review developments in court decisions and how the courts apply the tougher pleadings standards from the perspective of both the policyholder and the insurer.