Category: Nationwide

BREAKING NEWS: Government to re-try New trial date set for Neilson on Counts 1,3, and 4 of the Indictment – “The Case of the Misplaced Modifer” UPDATED

Quick update here from NEMS360 with Patsy Brumfield reporting:

Monday, Judge Sharion Aycock set Jan. 18 to re-try him on three counts that a 12-member jury could not agree to unanimously across 13 hours of deliberations last week…

Christi R. McCoy of Oxford, one of his defense team attorneys, said the U.S. Speedy Trial Act requires that a new court date be set.

“But we hope the government will elect not to re-try this case,” she said late Monday.

Speechless I’m not but what I have to say is hardly printable!  I’ve been checking Pacer for the jury verdict, intending to write a very different post from the one I’m writing now.

I’ll be back with a look at the three counts and the concept of double jeopardy as it applies to mistrials.

"Suck it fishes and birdies" – BP decisions making Goldman's "prophesy" our WTF reality

So much for the post I’d planned to write before I remembered that I’d saved  Goldman Sachs Reveals it Shorted Gulf of Mexico quoting the email from “Goldman employee Fabrice “Fabulous Fab” Tourre” to his girlfriend bragging about the firm “taking a ‘big short’ position on the Gulf:

Think the owner this former BP station near Mobile might have been just a little bit worried about what the BP image might do to his business? The reader taking the photo said the Shell logo was pasted over BP,and even the pumps had signs signs declaring, "This is a Shell product."

“One oil rig goes down and we’re going to be rolling in dough,” Mr. Tourre wrote in one email. “Suck it, fishies and birdies!”

Gotta tell you — there are probably a lot of out-of-work folks all along the coast who read that and thought how “fabulous” it would be if  a few of those oil-sucking birdies and fishes could give Fab a “big short”.

Speaking of short, just how tall do you think BP’s 12-year-old “expert” might be? The Sun Herald picked up the story from Carl Hiaasen, columnist for the Miami Herald, who reported this “absolutely true news item”:

British Petroleum says it is considering a plan to plug the main leak on the sunken Deepwater Horizon oil rig by shooting it full of shredded car tires, old golf balls and knotted ropes.

You decide if the rest of Hiaasen’s column is “absolutely true”:

BP announced today that it has fired its top engineer for safety design and replaced him with Jody McNamara, age 12, a sixth-grade honors student at the Dwight Eisenhower Middle School in Tulsa, Okla.  McNamara…was offered the BP job after a panel of industry experts selected his 250-word essay, “How To Stop Undersea Oil Leaks Really Quick,” over thousands of other entries… Continue reading “"Suck it fishes and birdies" – BP decisions making Goldman's "prophesy" our WTF reality”

Judge Senter issues a “think-you-got-it-now?” Order in Sunquest v Nationwide II re Jackson County’s Compass Point Apartments

In the last post on Sunquest v Nationwide, SLABBED referred to a second case filed on another Sunquest-owned property in Jackson County, Mississippi:

Considering Nationwide’s success at dragging out the case thus far, it may very well be five years following Katrina before this case settles – and following along behind, Sunquest also has a second Jackson County apartment complex with a Katrina claim in litigation with O’Leary as an Expert Witness is that case, too.

Compass Point litigation, Sunquest v Nationwide II, is not only following behind the litigation on Katrina damage to the Carriage House property, it is all but a mirror image of Sunquest v Nationwide I.  The Compass Point Complaint makes the same claims about Nationwide’s conduct and, like the Carriage House litigation, the dispute arises from the Sunquest request for an appraisal.

Nationwide also replicates its attack-strategy defense in Compass Point – or has prior to Judge Senter’s “now-do-you-get-it?” Order:

The Court has before it seven motions that are in many respects similar to the motions I ruled upon in Sunquest Properties, Inc. v. Nationwide Property and Casualty Insurance Company, Civil Action No. 1:08CV687 LTS-RHW. (Sunquest I) I intend to make the same rulings here, based on the same considerations, findings of fact, and conclusions of law…

Accordingly, it is ORDERED: Continue reading “Judge Senter issues a “think-you-got-it-now?” Order in Sunquest v Nationwide II re Jackson County’s Compass Point Apartments”

Perhaps Lynda can explain why this is the policyholder’s fault?

From the oral arguments in Corban, of which Lynda is obviously not familar. In Nationwide’s world it wasn’t the covered peril that controls, rather the mythical uncovered peril that might have destroyed the property had that pesky covered peril not occured.

JUSTICE PIERCE: So you’re sequencing, if 95 percent of the home was destroyed, and then we have the event of the storm surge, then you would not pay a dime?

MR. LANDAU: Your Honor, if we prove that the storm surge was sufficient to cause – we have that burden, again, and that is absolutely crystal clear.

If we can prove that the storm surge was sufficient to cause all of this, it is no answer then to say, ‘Yeah, but I’m going to show it — I’m going to have somebody come in and say, “Look, guess what, the window was broken before the storm surge came and then wiped away the whole house.

But you don’t get into those kind Continue reading “Perhaps Lynda can explain why this is the policyholder’s fault?”

The Price We Pay For “Pro-Business” Courts

As I’ve said in prior posts, I firmly believe Americans can no longer claim we’re “a government of laws not of men” as John Adams, our 2nd US President once pronounced. Adams’ words came to epitomize the venerable “rule of law” in America. In his era, the critical debate was “rule of law” vs. “rule of man.” The prospect that America might become “a government of men not of laws,” is exactly what Adams and our founders feared most, and warned us to stay away from. In their day, “rule of man” referred to the British King George III, who . . . well, just take a look for yourself:

In 1776, the year of our Declaration of Independence, Thomas Paine anonymously wrote a pamphlet titled Common Sense which stated: “in America, the law is king. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other.” Adams, a contemporary of Paine, expounded on Paine’s Common Sense, and made sure the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 included the words “a government of laws not of men.”

In Adams’ and Paine’s day, the King was law, and he served no one except himself. Today, billionaire monopolies are the “King makers.” By purchasing our legislatures, individual judges and elected officials, they bastardize “the rule of law.” Their aim is make America a government of men, not law. This is what happens every day in Latin America, and why we call them “third world.” If we acquiesce, and accept their bastardization of America’s founding premise, we’re right back where we started in 1776. Put another way:

we cannot let this ↓ Continue reading “The Price We Pay For “Pro-Business” Courts”

Corban v. USAA

CORBAN v. USAA – THE 1500 DAY GREEK TRAGEDY

Pardon the obvious patronage, but it’s fitting that Slabbed pay homage to the dedicated lawyers and astute circuit judge who were involved in Corban’s journey to the Mississippi Supreme Court. FOR THE PLAINTIFF: Judy Guice; Clyde Gunn; Richard Phillips; Christopher Van Cleave; Neil Harris; William Corban Gunn. THE CIRCUIT COURT OF HARRISON COUNTY: Honorable Lisa Dodson.

Yesterday, October 8, 2009 – exactly one thousand five hundred (1,500) days after Katrina – the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Harrison County Circuit Court erred in applying the Fifth Circuit’s interpretation of an ACC clause.  First, when I say “erred,” that doesn’t mean the Judge botched it. She didn’t. As a matter of fact this particular Judge, Lisa Dodson, did exactly what a judge is supposed to do in this situation – defer. Asked to rule on competing summary judgment motions, Judge Dodson was forced to chose between the devil – in this case 5th Circuit Judge Edith Jones – and the deep blue sea – our own Supreme Court. She did the right thing, though it meant walking with the devil a while. More on “Dodson’s dilemma” below.

First, let’s de-bone Corban. The decision says the ACC clause cannot be used to defeat a wind loss, unless the insurer, by a preponderance of the evidence, first proves that wind and water acted indivisibly, and “contemporaneously converged” in causing the loss. Second, the Court trashed the “in any sequence” language in the ACC, finding it “ambiguous.” So, post Corban, “Mississippi Insurance Law for Dummies” might read something like this: “in Mississippi, the ISO-type ACC clause does not apply to all-risk policy losses, and can’t be legitimately invoked, except in one rare instance: when the loss was caused by the indivisible forces of wind and water, and the insurer can prove it.” In a word, Corban says “you get the loss you bought.” But, as astute Bam Bam readers will see, there’s still a problem.

The heart and soul of Corban is on page 22 of the opinion: “The ACC clause applies only if and when covered and excluded perils contemporaneously converge, operating in conjunction, to cause damage resulting in loss to the insured property.” See the problem yet? Let me re-write the quoted part putting “wind” and “water” where they belong:

“The ACC clause applies only if and when [wind] and [water] perils contemporaneously converge, operating in conjunction, to cause damage resulting in loss to the insured property.” Continue reading “Corban v. USAA”

Reaction to Corban Ripple Across the Media

Anita Lee’s story on Corban is here with commentary from head III shill Robert Hartwig himself (picture found here). The bottom line per Judy Guice:

“To me, this was always much more than just a business issue. This was a personal issue to me. Getting the law straight was really one of the critical parts of my recovery and I’m relieved that has now happened.

“The overwhelming feeling I have right now is relief that our children and grandchildren, and everybody else who had to suffer like we’ve all suffered since Hurricane Katrina, will not be stuck with the harsh law, the incorrect law that was previously created and has now been corrected by our Mississippi Supreme Court.”

Chip Merlin has written a series of 3 posts on Corban which address all the fine points of the decision. This is from Part 2:

This ruling confirms State Farm’s Wind/Water Protocol is the wrong test under Mississippi law because it improperly shifted the burden upon the policyholder to prove that the wind caused the damage rather than the insurer having to prove that the damage was excluded. Corban undermines the Fifth Circuit reversal of Judge Senter in Broussard vs. State Farm and as I suggested in Broussard’s Bad Faith Decision Impaired by the Mississippi Supreme Court.

There is one important mistake the Court did make in its decision when it held: Continue reading “Reaction to Corban Ripple Across the Media”

Drake v Nationwide goes another emotionally distressing round

The high water level or storm surge of a hurricane and specifically Hurricane Katrina is generally misunderstood by the general public. Most people think that the storm surge is a virtual wall of sea water that suddenly comes ashore as the hurricane makes landfall.

While this may be true to some extent at the actual center of the eyewall of a hurricane as it makes landfall, it is not true for the storm surge or high water away from the center of the storm. Rather, the rising of the storm surge or high water is a gradual occurrence as you get further from the center -of the storm, even in the most intense winds of the northeast quadrant of the hurricane.

I have interviewed two eyewitnesses to the Hurricane Katrina high water occurrence, and they each tell very similar accounts. A third eye witness on lovers lane in Ocean Springs reportedly tells a similar account. The witnesses state that the water rose gradually, first in the edge of their yards, then by progression up to the steps of their house and finally up on the sides of the house to the highest water level.

The witnesses state that the high water stayed at the highest level for a short period of about 30 minutes and then receded in the same gradual manner as the water rose. The witnesses who gave these accounts were located in Pascagoula near the water; at D’Iberville on the Back Bay of Biloxi; and on the waterside of Lovers Lane in Ocean Springs. (emphasis added)

With Ted Biddy’s February 9, 2006 forensic analysis of the loss documenting wind speed and water level across the Coast , it is difficult to believe Nationwide let the Drake’s claim for ALE reach the point of litigation.  The State’s windpool and the Federal flood program picked up the tab for the slab; and, all that was left for Nationwide to pay was approximately 1/10th of the total loss.

Nonetheless, four years after Katrina left the Drake’s with a slab, Nationwide is Continue reading “Drake v Nationwide goes another emotionally distressing round”

The ACC Bee Is Still In My Bonnet

ACC, the anti-concurrent cause issue, is burning up my head again. With health care insurance all the rage, it don’t hurt to remind ourselves how Big Insurance grew to be cracked-out body slammers. Most people don’t know that way back in 1945 the McCarran-Ferguson Act exempted Big Insurance (“Big-I”) from federal anti-trust law so long as long as the states “regulated” insurance. What a farce. Big-I and ISO hand out cash Tootsee Rolls to puppet commissioners and presto, before you know it, we’ve got regional, full-blown monopolies. Take health coverage: Wellpoint controls 71% of the Maine market; Blue Cross controls 90% of the North Dakota market and 100% of the Alabama market. All that said, keep your fingers crossed, the House Judiciary Committee (Senator Leahy) introduced an amendment to the health bill which would strip Big-I’s anti-trust exemption.

George Dale
George Dale

But, let’s revisit the magnolia ACC a minute. In prior posts, I talked about how Nationwide (probably with ISO’s help) quietly slipped the ACC into Mississippi in the ’80’s. By “slipped,” I mean they submitted a new policy form to the Commissioner for approval. Natch, it was instantly accepted. Recall, Mr Commissioner was indicted in ’94 for taking bribes from Big-I, but never went to trial. Undaunted, a mere 5 years later the legislative PEER committee caught him approving rate requests for State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide et al without any actuarial review. Over 380 rate requests, 59% of all, weren’t even looked at by actuaries.

MID Peer Report

Lee Harrell

  Some of you may recall that Dale’s deputy commissioner was the one who incessantly chatted with sycophantic law clerks overseeing Katrina, and probably caused the so-called “MID mediation plan” to be crammed down the throats of Katrina homeowners. Using Dale to the fullest, State Farm employed this sham mediation procedure to defraud hundreds and perhaps thousands of insureds. Evidence was produced showing State Farm staged the mediations in advance and actively concealed material evidence from homeowners during the “mediation” process. Continue reading “The ACC Bee Is Still In My Bonnet”

Empty handed on hand down Thursday – Corban v USAA

Another great Bam Bam post and once again I am thinking about our supremely slow Supremes, Corban v USAA and counting by the calendar again – empty handed for the 15th Thursday following Oral Arguments.Corban continued2