The trial resumes at 9:30 this morning. Judge L.T. Senter Jr. is expected to rule on how extensive testimony will be from two State Farm experts, an oceanographer and Florida university professor with a doctorate in engineering.
The witnesses are not licensed engineers, so Senter must decide if they can dispute a damage report, ordered by Bossier, in which a licensed engineer concluded that wind effectively destroyed the house.
Is State Farm trying to set up a run-to-mama-Jones appeal to the Fifth Circuit? I don’t know the answer but I’d bet a slab Judge Senter is giving the possibility a great deal of thought. Whatever else one can say about State Farm aside, no one would ever suggest the Company wrote “Insurance Claims Litigation for Dummies”– so there must be a reason the State Farm defense team looks like a bunch of monkeys f*&%#$% footballs in the Bossier trial. Anita Lee reports on what took place in court Thusday for the Sun Herald in State Farm manager notes: ‘Just say no’:
Two independent adjusters for State Farm testified in a Hurricane Katrina insurance trial Thursday that an 8-foot tidal surge destroyed the home of Reginald “Ed” and Katie Bossier on Back Bay, but both adjusters also said they could cover only visible wind damage. Continue reading “Oops! State Farm’s experts on damage to Bossier’s home aren’t licensed – Judge Senter to issue ruling today”