Law Offices of Marie Cheung-Truslow

05/11/2023

The Ask AI App is quite impressive. I typed an obscure area of law, related to my insurance law practice and voila, it defined the Made Whole Doctrine succinctly.

04/27/2023

Our law firm represented a subrogated property carrier for the tenants, on a catastrophic loss involving a crane collapse onto an apartment building in Dallas.

Today, the first wrongful death trial resulted in a $860 million verdict.

Having a personal injury component to a property loss, certainly puts in perspective the emotional devastation an accident can have on the family.

A Dallas County jury has found a real estate developer guilty of negligence and awarded a family $360 million in damages after a crane crashed into an apartment building, killing a woman nearly four years ago.

04/19/2023

Depositions of Insurance Corporate Representatives:

Taking and responding to depositions in first party insurance coverage and bad faith cases involves nuances unique to insurance law. It requires in-depth knowledge of the policy and the underlying facts. Testimony by fact witnesses, including the insurance adjuster and corporate representatives for both sides, can often determine the outcome.

Rule 30(b)(6) allows the policyholder to directly question the insurer's corporate representatives about specific topics related to pending litigation. The insurer can designate the representative of their choice--and that person may or may not be the actual claims handler.

Careful preparation of the notice and for the deposition is critical.

03/16/2023

We are working with private fire investigators to determine the cause of the fire at Arrive Silver Spring, a large apartment complex in Silver Spring, MD.

Does it take a tragic death to change fire safety requirements?

Hundreds of people are still without a home after a fire ripped through a high-rise in Silver Spring, Maryland, on Saturday. News4’s Mauricio Casillas reports.

02/26/2023

Business travels are a common place for me. Off to Atlanta for deposition of subrogation case involving a super car fire.

02/21/2023

The best part of traveling is the lack of guilt indulging in yummy airport food! Headed to Charlottesville, Virginia for a motion for summary judgment hearing on a large subrogation case headed for trial.

What are some recommendations for best airport restaurant!

02/01/2023

We just tried a case brought by a customer against his insurance agent, to verdict, in Vermont. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the insurance agent, finding no duty of care to his customer. That’s the law. Insurance agents have no duty to secure adequate insurance.

Best part was the view of Lake Champlain!

01/20/2023

In Ken's Foods v. Steadfast, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently held that there is no common law obligation of insurers to pay for cost to prevent imminent covered loss, where there is no provision in the policy obligating an insurer to do so.

Marie Cheung-Truslow was quoted in the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly's January 17, 2023 online edition.

"Marie Cheung-Truslow of Boston also agreed with the decision. ' The rights and obligations under an insurance policy are governed by the rules of contract construction,' she said. 'Where in the instant case the parties did not bargain for coverage of expense to prevent a business interruption, a court should not create rights.'"

01/15/2023

Terry v. Hospitality Mutual Insurance Company, 101 Mass. App. Ct. 597 (2022)

A recent decision by the Massachusetts Appeals Court outlines the danger for insurers who fail to fairly and reasonably investigate claims against their insureds. In Terry v. Hospitality Mutual Insurance Company, 101 Mass. App. Ct. 597 (2022), decided on August 31, 2022, the court considered a claim for unfair and deceptive claim settlement practices under the Massachusetts Consumer Protection law, M.G.L. Chapter 93A. The plaintiff, a man injured during a barfight in a pub insured by the defendant, alleged that the pub was liable for dram shop negligence for serving two men after they were visibly intoxicated (after which they assaulted the plaintiff in the parking lot). The plaintiff prevailed on his dram shop action against the pub with an award of $250,000 in damages. Thereafter, the man filed a Chapter 93A claim against the pub’s insurer, for failing to offer a fair and equitable settlement once the pub’s liability became reasonably clear, which netted him another $500,000 in a double damages award against the insurer, along with attorney’s fees and costs.

In considering the insurer’s appeal, the court performed the standard analysis of whether (and when) the insured’s liability became reasonably clear, and the reasonableness of the insurer’s offer once that point had been reached. Where the court charted a new course is in its detailed scrutiny of every aspect of the insurer’s investigation into the claim against its insured. And the scrutiny left the court chagrined by the insurer bending over backwards to justify the its negligible offer to the injured bar patron. The insurer performed a laughably biased investigation of its insured’s liability that failed to preserve important evidence (security camera footage) and simply ignored facts that contradicted its position (witness statements in a police report and sworn deposition testimony). The appellate court affirmed the Chapter 93A award based on the insurer “cherry-picking facts” to support a pre-determined position: “While [insurer] consistently found reasons to disregard unfavorable evidence, [it] did not apply the same exacting scrutiny to favorable evidence.” Ironically, it was the insurer’s own thorough investigation file that provided the ammunition for the court’s decision, including the detailed (and patently self-serving) attempts to explain away unfavorable evidence contained therein. The Terry decision’s takeaways for liability insurers are clear. First, make sure that all liability investigations are fair and reasonable. Second, make sure that the fairness and reasonableness of the investigation are well documented in the file. Finally, though it would seem to be obvious to every insurer (with the apparent exception of the Terry insurer), make sure the investigation (and the file) support the ultimate decision of when and how much is offered to an injured claimant.

12/06/2022

A banana split is just what I needed after winning a jury trial!!

The jury just awarded my clients everything they claimed, including monies for violation of Massachusetts Unfair Business Practice statute, which entitles...

10/06/2022

As of October 5, 2022, there are 282,229 claims resulting from Hurricane Ian.

07/09/2022

A historic bed and breakfast on the Massachusetts island of Nantucket is gutted after a large fire burned through it Saturday morning

An off-duty fire captain and civilians are being credited with helping save guests from the burning building, which dates back to the 17th century.