Recently, I blogged about a case where the court rejected an argument that the tort of bad faith applied to a reinsurance agreement. The losing party in that case petitioned the federal court to certify the question to the Alabama Supreme Court.
In Alabama Municipal Insurance Corp. v. Munich Reinsurance America, Inc., No. 20 cv 300-MHT (M.D. Ala. Apr. 12, 2021), the cedent moved the federal court to certify to the Alabama Supreme Court the question of whether Alabama recognizes the tort of bad faith in the reinsurance context.
In rejecting the motion, the court held that certification would be neither necessary nor appropriate. The court pointed out that it had plenty of Alabama cases to review and was quite confident that the Alabama Supreme Court would not extend the tort of bad faith to reinsurance given the court’s restrictive application of the tort. As the court said, “[c]ertifying the question now would not save the court or the parties any time, energy, or resources. Quite the opposite—it would delay the case further, preventing the court from moving forward in its consideration of the remaining claims.”
The court also noted that it was unwilling to grant the motion after it had dismissed the cedent’s bad faith claims from the case. The court said it would not allow the cedent “a second chance at victory” on a motion to certify filed only after the court had already carefully considered the relevant state law and made an informed judgment.
What will the federal circuit court say?
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Published by Larry P. Schiffer, Schiffer Law & Consulting PLLC
After 38-years with boutique and global law firms, Larry P. Schiffer launched an independent legal and consulting practice, Schiffer Law & Consulting PLLC, where he provides services as a lawyer, counselor, consultant, mediator, arbitrator and expert witness. He practices commercial, insurance, and reinsurance litigation, arbitration, and mediation. He provides advice on a wide variety of insurance and reinsurance issues, including claims and disputes, policy wording analysis and drafting, insurance insolvency issues, due diligence for transactions and have insurance or reinsurance components, insurance and reinsurance education and other advice. He is available to appear for clients outside of NY at mediations and conferences as needed on a per diem basis. He is active in legal and trade associations where he has held various leadership positions. He has lectured and has been widely published on reinsurance and other insurance topics. He serves as an Expert Commentator on reinsurance for IRMI.com and co-authored the chapter on reinsurance in the New York State Bar Association’s Insurance Law Practice treatise. He is the editor of the ARIAS•U.S. Quarterly. Mr. Schiffer received his J.D. from Albany Law School, where he graduated cum laude, was a member of the Albany Law Review and a member of the Justinian Society, and received his B.A. magna cum laude from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. He was admitted to practice in New York in 1980.
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