in a recent Federal Case involving Ohio Insurance Law, it is again held that there is no Bad Faith where there is no Insurance Coverage: O'Neill v. Kemper Insurance Cos., 2006 WL 2795186 (S.D. Ohio Case No. 2:04-CV-1135 Opinion Filed September 27, 2006)(subscription required), Download oneill_v. Kemper Insurance Cos. (S.D. Ohio Sept. 27, 2006).pdf. Today a Notice of Appeal is filed to the Sixth Circuit.
That is the long and the short of this case, right there. Stop if you want the short version. However, the longer version of this case up till the filing of a Notice of Appeal if you will, involves allegations of judicial misconduct, attorney fee and cost bills adding up to more than half-a-million dollars, agency findings by the Board on Grievances and Discipline, an Ohio Supreme Court appeal and, in the end, summary judgment for the Judge's insurance company in her Bad Faith case -- after summary judgment/dismissal of her claims for Insurance Coverage.
Judge Deborah P. O'Neill sued Kemper and Lumbermen's. She holds a policy that reimburses her for defending against certain "allegations". Judge O'Neill was accused of 6 counts including in them 55 total "instances of alleged misconduct" while she was an Ohio Common Pleas Judge. She successfully defended against 2 of the counts before the Ohio Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline. The Supreme Court of Ohio affirmed the Board's findings "and suspended [her] license to practice law for two years with one year stayed, on certain conditions."
By the conclusion of these results of her defense, Judge O'Neill was charged $175.00 an hour for a total "in excess of $580,000.00." In footnote 2, the Federal Judge carefully pointed out the high respect afforded to Judge O'Neill's lawyer. In the same footnote, the Federal Judge also pointed out that the reasonableness of the charge was not an issue in the case.
Rather, the Federal case began and ended, really, with Insurance Coverage or rather the lack of it, according to the Federal Court. Judge O'Neill's insurance policy provided that when there were otherwise covered allegations against her, the insruance company would reimburse her defense fees and costs "only" when the "allegations ... are dismissed or discontinued without a finding of fault or guilt on your part."
Since 2 of the 6 charges were successfully defended, and 4 of the 6 resulted in findings affirmed by the Ohio Supreme Court, the Federal District Judge held that there was no Insurance Coverage under the insurance policy. The claim of Bad Faith failed as a result of the holding of No Insurance Coverage. The claim of Bad Faith, the Federal Court "finds," therefore had "no merit". Parenthetically, the Bad Faith Law of Ohio is concisely summarized in footnote 6 of the Federal Court's Opinion.
Regardless of where the Bad Faith Law of Ohio takes Ohio, and us, this case is another in a growing list of decisions in which claims of Bad Faith are defeated when Courts find NO Insurance Coverage. If the Notice of Appeal filed in this particular case today results in further rulings in this case, we may see if these holdings remain unchanged.
REMINDER: THE CONTENTS OF THIS BLOG DO NOT MAKE AN ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP. ALWAYS CONSULT THE CASES AND LAWS OF EACH PARTICULAR JURISDICTION AND AN ATTORNEY IN AND FAMILIAR WITH THE PARTICULAR JURISDICTION AND ITS LAWS, WHENEVER YOU TRY TO ADDRESS OR RESOLVE ANY LEGAL QUESTION.
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