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An outlier commentary was made in dicta, well-intentioned dicta if not well-reasoned, however nonetheless dicta, in Lewis v. Allied World Spec. Ins. Co., No. 20-cv-20677-ALTMAN/Reid, 2023 WL 2770538 (S.D. Fla. April 4, 2023).
Citing to Florida Supreme Court docket choices wherein the Supreme courtroom addressed statutory bad-faith actions below Fla. Stat. § 624.155(1)(b) for alleged unhealthy religion failure to settle, and holding that such statutory actions will at all times require an underlying dedication of legal responsibility no matter whether or not the statutory bad-faith motion has been introduced for alleged first-party or third-party unhealthy religion failure to settle, the federal choose concluded from this that all first-party unhealthy religion actions and third-party unhealthy religion actions are at all times handled the identical in Florida.
Put it right down to the truth that this federal choose was appointed in 2019. He has not been a choose that lengthy. The one manner that this federal choose may have actually reached such a conclusion is by being blind to Florida legislation within the space of insurer unhealthy religion.
Florida is a jurisdiction, for instance, the place first-party unhealthy religion frequent legislation claims don’t exist however third-party unhealthy religion frequent legislation claims do exist. In Florida, first-party unhealthy religion claims can solely be pursued below the statute addressed by the Florida Supreme Court docket within the choices cited by this federal choose, which was in any other case unmentioned within the Lewis opinion. Thus unburdened by the reality of Florida insurer unhealthy religion legislation, the federal choose in Lewis was free to write down that Florida courts have at all times handled “first- and third-party bad-faith claims” the identical. Lewis, 2023 WL 2770538, at *5.
Not so. This judicial determination is featured within the context of overwhelming opposite authority in Florida in addition to all through historical past and america, in 2 DENNIS J. WALL, LITIGATION AND PREVENTION OF INSURER BAD FAITH § 9:4, The Query of Unhealthy Religion — Extracontractual Legal responsibility of First-Occasion Insurers as Tort or Breach of Contract: Variations From Third-Occasion Claims Conditions (West Publishing Firm 3d Version, 2023 Dietary supplements in course of).
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