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"We hold that post-declination letters and memoranda are relevant and admissible." Norman v. American National Fire Insurance Co., 198 Ill. App. 3d 269, 303, 555 N.E.2d 1087, 1109, 144 Ill. Dec. 568, 590 (Ill. 5th DCA May 15, 1990)(subscription required)(not available Online as of the date of this post on the Illinois State Courts web site, which apparently archives Opinions Online back to 1996 at this time).
The issue in that case was whether Attorney's Fees should be assessed against the Insurance Company Defendant under Section 155 of the Illinois Insurance Code, cited by the Court in the Norman case as Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 73, paragraph 767. That Statute requires a determination of whether the Defendant's conduct, i.e., its "action or delay," was "vexatious and unreasonable".
"The question of vexatious and unreasonable delay is a factual one, which must be based upon an assessment of the totality of the circumstances, taken in broad focus." Norman v. American National Fire Insurance Co., 198 Ill. App. 3d 269, 304, 555 N.E.2d 1087, 1109-10, 144 Ill. Dec. 568, 590-91 (Ill. 5th DCA May 15, 1990).
The assessment and recovery of Attorney's Fees, particularly under "Bad Faith" or "vexatious and unreasonable" standards of liability in an Action Against an Insurance Company, are discussed in Dennis J. Wall, "Litigation and Prevention of Insurer Bad Faith" ยง13:14 (Second Edition, Shepard's/McGraw-Hill; 2009 Supplement, West Publishing Company).
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