Appellate Victory for Allstate

The Phoenix Office's Insurance Bad Faith team scored a major victory for Allstate Insurance when the Kentucky Court of Appeals issued an opinion upholding a defense verdict in an October 2007 jury trial. The plaintiff, who was involved in a 1997 car accident, not only challenged the handling of her insurance claim, but also brought a comprehensive challenge to Allstate's Claim Core Process Redesign, resulting in significant national publicity. At trial, she sought $1.425 billion in damages. An adverse result could have encouraged or spawned countless other “institutional” challenges to Allstate's claim-handling methods. In rejecting each of the plaintiff's 19 separate issues on appeal, the court remarked on “the size of the record, which contains more than 9,300 pages, countless exhibits, numerous depositions, a multitude of hearings, seemingly limitless sidebar hearings, two weeks of trial testimony, and a history spanning nearly ten years.” Steptoe’s trial team was led by Floyd Bienstock and included Jon Neumann, Erin Bradham, Marilyn Bradbury, and R.C. Eckert, with key support from Karen Fitzpatrick, Sandi Glasscock, and Beth Hardin. Steptoe's appellate team consisted of Ben Cooper and Doug Janicik.