Insurance & Personal Injury Attorney in Oklahoma CIty, Oklahoma
Can you tell us about a memorable insurance bad faith case you handled?
Can you tell us about a memorable insurance bad faith case you handled?
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bad faith only exists when
someone who buys an insurance policy or
is covered by an insurance policy sues
their own insurance company that’s
called first party insurance and in
Oklahoma the law has a very high
standard it’s sort of like if you were
an athlete and you were a high jumper
anybody can jump over a one foot bar or
a two foot bar but bad faith the law
sets the bar 10 feet high I mean it’s
really high you have to thoroughly
investigate you have to evaluate you
have to make a fair offer quickly you
don’t have to do that in a normal car
accident case where you’re not the
insurer and so that’s where a lot of
insurance companies get into trouble
so when you explain to the jury what the
burden is for an insurance company
treating their own insured that makes it
a different ball game entirely
Mike Burridge and I tried a case
together in 2008 that kind of
exemplifies that we were able to
demonstrate that an insurance company
had acted terribly to their insured had
basically taken a lot of money that
should have been paid to the insurer
they made them fight like the devil to
get it
we got 130 million dollar jury verdict
in 2008 in Lawton Oklahoma and uh made a
closing argument that lasted just a few
minutes and got a punitive damage
verdict of 30 million that was
definitely deserved and the case settled
after that it was deserved because that
company treated these people like an
enemy and the law requires
the insurance companies to treat their
own insureds in good faith and treat
them fairly and they didn’t do that and
we were able to prove that but again you
have to know the language you have to be
able to explain these duties and explain
how they work in the real world and a
lot of people don’t speak that insurance
lingo so we spent the first part of our
career representing insurance companies
they basically sent us to school and
taught us all that I didn’t learn that
in law school
so that that turned out to be a big
Advantage for us
Oklahoma City, OK personal injury attorney Reggie Whitten tells the story of a memorable insurance bad faith case he handled. In discussing bad faith claims against insurance companies, he explained that bad faith primarily arises when an individual or entity covered by an insurance policy sues their own insurance company, a scenario known as first-party insurance. He noted that in Oklahoma, the law sets a notably high standard for bad faith claims, akin to a high jump competition where the bar is set exceptionally high, requiring thorough investigation, evaluation, and prompt fair offers from the insurance company. This stringent standard differentiates bad faith claims from typical car accident cases where the insurer is not directly involved.
He cited a case from 2008, where he and Mike Burridge tried a case together that illustrated the principles of bad faith. In this case, they were able to demonstrate that the insurance company had treated their insured terribly, withholding rightful payments and making them fight for their due. The jury awarded a substantial $130 million verdict, which included a $30 million punitive damage verdict. This outcome was justified as the insurance company had failed to act in good faith and fairly toward their insured, which is a legal requirement.
He stressed the importance of knowing the language and intricacies of insurance law, as many individuals may not be familiar with insurance terminology. He mentioned that early in their careers, they represented insurance companies, which provided them with valuable insights and expertise in navigating the complexities of insurance cases.
