Richardson Law Group provides litigation services to insurance companies in many areas such as motor vehicle accidents, complex claims, product liability, premises liability, or dram shop liability. Our firm works to settle disputes quickly and efficiently with the best interests of the insurance carriers in mind at all time. When trial is necessary, our attorneys are prepared to achieve defense verdicts.
Representative Matters
April 2020, Eastern District of Kentucky: Humphrey v. Nationwide. Richardson Law Group successfully obtained summary judgment for their client on a novel auto insurance coverage issue in federal court. The Plaintiff moved in with her boyfriend. The boyfriend then had her and her car added to his policy, but she was not the policyholder and was not related to the policyholder. The Plaintiff’s shopping cart was struck by a vehicle in the parking lot as she was exiting a grocery store, allegedly injuring her Achilles tendon as she fell with the cart. The Plaintiff had already been treating for an unrelated injury to her Achilles tendon. After the accident, she underwent surgery and settled with the driver who hit her shopping cart for his policy limits. The insurer for the Plaintiff’s vehicle denied her claim for underinsured motorist benefits. The Plaintiff filed suit against her insurer making both underinsured motorist and bad faith claims. After discovery and a deposition were conducted, the court agreed that the policy did not provide underinsured motorist coverage for the Plaintiff, who was not the policyholder, not related to the policyholder, and not occupying a covered vehicle. Therefore, all claims, including the bad faith claim, were dismissed.
2005 KY. Coomer v. Phelps, 172 S.W.3d 389, LEXIS 298. Richardson Law Group was granted summary judgment on behalf of an insured in Pulaski Circuit Court upon proof of a release the injured party executed in favor of the insured. The Kentucky Court of Appeals affirmed this judgment, finding no grounds to support invalidating the release as the injured party failed to produce evidence that the insured violated any legal duty owed to her.
6th Cir. KY. 2010, Scottsdale Ins. Co. v. Nat H. Sandler, 381 Fed. Appx. 554. Richardson Law Group represented an insurance carrier in the successful defense of a District Court declaratory judgment on an insurance policy issued to a non-profit mental health treatment center. A patient began treating at a physician's private psychiatric practice. Several years after the doctor ceased being a patient, and the physician began working for the nonprofit clinic, the doctor sought an antidepressant prescription from the physician. The physician initially declined and discouraged the doctor from seeking to utilize the clinic for treatment but ultimately wrote the doctor a prescription, and the patient committed suicide shortly thereafter. The patient's estate sued, contending that the physician violated the standard of care. On appeal, the court agreed with the District Court that the policy did not cover the physician with regard to the estate's claims.