Snell Legal News: March 2012

Sunrise

Attorney Greg Snell recently wrote an article for the Volusia County Bar Association publication The Communicator on damages for breach of an insurance liability contract. It is well known that an insured may make a claim under their insurance policy if they are covered for a loss but it is not so well known that when an insurance carrier fails to fulfill their contractual obligations arising from their insurance policy with an insured that they can be liable for damages above the policy limits for breach of contract.

Mr. Snell has extensive experience in dealing with insurance coverage issues. For many years, as part of his extensive and widespread litigation practice he provided representation to insurance carriers and assisted them in defending their insureds in lawsuits and determining the carriers' obligations under their insurance policies. Mr. Snell has worked with insurance carriers such as State Farm, Allstate, Travelers, CNA, Transamerica, USF&G, Canal, Physician's Protective Trust Fund, the University of Florida Self Insurance Trust Fund and many more. He also worked with many self-insured companies and governmental bodies, such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Winn-Dixie and the City of Daytona Beach.

Since founding Snell Legal in 2004 Mr. Snell has limited his litigation almost exclusively to the representation of businesses in litigation. On behalf of insured businesses he has obtained many significant recoveries from insurance carriers. In one such matter his insured client was sued by a competitor in Kentucky. The carrier, The Hartford of the Southeast, refused to defend them. The client, The Broadcast Team, was required to retain counsel at their own expense, which quickly became a considerable expense. They made the business decision to settle the case by paying cash, but also agreeing not to compete with the competitor for four years. The damages were significant. The judge concluded that Hartford should have defended them and the jury concluded the damages were $18,787,500.00, of which $18,500,000.00 was lost profits. The case was appealed and settled on confidential terms while on appeal. This is a classic example, however, of what can happen to an insurer who doesn't fulfill the obligations of their contract, as Mr. Snell wrote upon in the article for the Bar Association. The verdict in that case was by far the largest jury verdict in the history of Volusia County and remains the largest business case verdict in Volusia County.

Mr. Snell frequently writes and speaks on business litigation and other business law topics. He has appeared on television and radio to address business law topics many times. To see a copy of the article written by Mr. Snell for the Bar Association please click here. To see other articles written by Mr. Snell click here. To learn more about the credentials of Mr. Snell and news related to Mr. Snell click here

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