... OF OFFERS TO SETTLE IN THE UNDERLYING CASE.
Requests for Production of documents and other things are practically mandatory in Bad Faith cases. For suggested Forms, see, for example, Dennis J. Wall, "Litigation and Prevention of Insurer Bad Faith" Appendixes 11-B (First-Party Plaintiff Requests to Produce) and 11-D (First-Party Insurance Company Requests to Produce) for suggested forms to consider in First-Party Bad-Faith Cases, and Appendixes 11-F (Third-Party Plaintiff Requests to Produce) and 11-H (Third-Party Insurance Company Requests to Produce) for possible use in Third-Party Bad Faith Cases, (3d Edition West Publishing 2011, 2012 Supplement).
One possible form is suggested by the ruling of a United States Magistrate Judge in a recent Third-Party Bad-Faith case. The Magistrate Judge limited a Defendant Liability Insurance Company's requested production to the following requested production of documents from the Plaintiffs; his ruling is framed here as though it were a paragraph of a possible request for production:
All documents reflecting [the Liability Insurance Company's] communications to the Plaintiffs or their counsel about offers to settle from the date of the claim through the issuance of the mandate.
Hilson v. GEICO General Insurance Co., 2012 WL 3128953 *1 (M.D. Fla. August 1, 2012), Download Hilson v. GEICO General Insurance Co. (M.D. Fla. No. 8.11cv13, USMJ Order Filed August 1, 2012) PUBLIC ACCESS. In that case, GEICO assumed the Duty to Defend the Plaintiffs in the underlying liability case against them. GEICO's request for production was otherwise deemed overbroad and its Motion to Compel other production was accordingly denied by the Court. "Otherwise, GEICO has failed to show that any other documents in its unparticularized requests for production would have any relevance to a claim or a defense at issue in this case." Hilson v. GEICO General Insurance Co., 2012 WL 3128953 *1 (M.D. Fla. August 1, 2012).
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