(l-r) Presiding Judge Sara Doyle, Judge Elizabeth Gobeil and Senior Judge Andrew Fuller, Georgia Court of Appeals. Courtesy photos A 'Shocking Opinion'?: 'Duty to Defend' Under Fire in Ga. Court of Appeals Opinion
"There isn't a businessperson in the state that's not going to not lose the duty to defend because within [the new criteria," the defendant-appellee attorney said. "They can either have the financial wherewithal or can borrow it. ... It reaches so much further than it needed to go."
March 13, 2024 at 04:19 PM
4 minute read
What You Need to Know
- When the plaintiffs, trust beneficiaries, filed their third appeal on the case, they asked the court to reconsider an order to pay attorney fees and refund millions they already had paid the defense.
- While the intermediate court wouldn't refund the money they had already spent, it ruled they did not have to pay the defendants' attorney fees.
- Now, defendant counsel Randy Evans argues this is setting bad precedent for an insurer's duty to defend in future disputes.
The Georgia Court of Appeals turned Georgia indemnity law on its head in a Monday opinion issued in a case where King & Spalding clients, who had been ordered to pay Troutman Pepper $4.7M, asked the court for their money back, according to defendant-appellee attorney J. Randolph "Randy "Evans of Squire Patton Boggs.
While the court determined that Evans' clients wouldn't need to pay the $4.7 million back, it also reversed a trial court order requiring the plaintiff-appellants to pay attorney fees and litigation costs. According to Evans, the opinion boils down to this: If an insured can borrow the money with interest for a defense, then they have not suffered irreparable injury and cannot enforce the duty to defend.
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