The Impact of Bad-Faith Arguments on Forum Battles

By Caroline L. Marks, Attorney,  Insurance Recovery and Litigation Practice Group and
Alexandra V. Dattilo, Attorney, Litigation and Corporate and Securities Practice Groups

Policyholders and insurers alike regularly find themselves in protracted forum battles because, rightly or wrongly, the parties view choice of forum as having a major impact on the choice of state law to be applied to important coverage issues. Coverage law, of course, varies significantly among jurisdictions, and choice of law actually can be outcome determinative in certain cases. In contesting such forum battle, policyholders have a tool that may be underutilized - the argument that insurers engage in bad faith when they file pre-emptive declaratory judgment actions to attempt to seize control of forum selection.  

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