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Do Insurers Get Their Money\\u2019s Worth from Fighting Fraud?   

https://zalma.com/blog

The Law of Unintended Consequences Strikes Again to Help Set Up a Bad  Faith Case   How a Statute to Protect Against Bad Faith Offers Created an Opposite  Result  In White v. Cheek, A21A0212, Court of Appeals of Georgia (May 21, 2021) a  personal injury action arising from an automobile accident involving  Stephan Duwayne White and Walter Cheek. White appealed from the trial  court\\u2019s denial of his motion to enforce a settlement. White contended  that the trial court erred by holding that oral communications on  White\\u2019s behalf constituted a counter-offer, and thus there was no  enforceable settlement agreement formed between the parties.   ZIFL OPINION  The Georgia statute was enacted with an attempt to avoid bad faith  set-up offers of settlement. It, as Chief Judge McFadden noted, had the  exact opposite effect. The court was compelled to enforce the statute as  written. Chief Judge McFadden made it clear in a concurring opinion  that GEICO should aggressively defend the bad faith suit and made clear  that a motion for summary judgment should be granted because the offer  was clearly a bad faith set-up attempt. Lawyers must represent their  clients but need not act unethically by refusing an offer to accept the  settlement demand that did not accept every element of the 22 page offer  immediately.