Insurance Bad Faith Cases: When the Insurance company’s position is wrong

Guy O. Kornblum | Guy O. Kornblum, A Professional Law Corporation

Guy O. Kornblum is the principal in Guy O. Kornblum, A Professional Law Corporation with offices in San Francisco, California. He has specialized in civil litigation for over 45 years. His firm specializes in a wide range of civil litigation, including serious injury and wrongful death, medical and legal malpractice, financial and physical elder abuse, and all aspects of insurance including “bad faith” claims. Mr. Kornblum himself has handled over 4000 litigated matters to a conclusion and has several million dollars plus cases to his credit. He has represented hundreds of clients, small businesses, individuals, and large Fortune 500 corporations over his years of practice. He is highly regarded for his litigation skills, and his representation of his clients in settlement negotiations and mediations, where he has a strong track record of successful settlements.

Mr. Kornblum is certified in Civil Trial Law and Civil Pretrial Practice Advocacy by the prestigious National Board of Trial Advocacy, and is a Charter Fellow, American College of Board-Certified Attorneys. He is also a Life Member of the Multi-Million Dollar and Million Dollar Advocate’s Forum, for those attorneys who have achieved multi-million dollar awards or settlements for their clients; is a Charter Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America Trial Lawyer Honorary”; is a “Top 100” Trial Lawyer; and is listed in the “Top 10” in the Personal Injury and Insurance Litigation fields. He is listed in the 23d Edition of “The Best Lawyers in America.” He has been selected as a Super Lawyer each year since 2006 and is a Top Attorney in North America. Mr. Kornblum is the author of Negotiating and Settling Tort Cases: Reaching the Settlement, published by the Thomson Reuters Publishing Company now in its 5th ed (2023), and coauthor of two texts on insurance law and bad faith claims, and over 150 published articles on various topics related to civil litigation and insurance and injury claims.

Mr. Kornblum has been lecturing on continuing legal education programs for over 45 years on a local, state, and national level. He has taught programs for numerous providers and regularly lectures for the San Francisco Bar Association, the National Academy for Continuing Legal Education, the National Business Institute, and other CLE providers. He also has taught law school students at the University of California Law School, San Francisco (formerly the Hastings College of the Law) in the and at Santa Clara University Law School and San Francisco Law School.

In addition to his civil litigation practice, Mr. Kornblum has also qualified in both state and federal court as an expert witness on insurance claim handling, settlement value, negotiations and case value, and on the standard of care applicable to lawyers in civil litigation.

Bradley A. Levin | Levin Sitcoff PC

Bradley A. Levin is a shareholder in the law firm of Levin Sitcoff PC, with emphasis in tort and commercial litigation, including insurance bad faith and insurance coverage disputes. Mr. Levin received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University, with distinction, where he was elected Phi Beta Kappa.

He graduated from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, n/k/a University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly. He is a member of the California and Colorado bars and the Denver, Colorado, and American Bar Associations, is past President of the Colorado Bar Association Insurance Committee, and is a Colorado Bar Foundation Fellow and American Bar Foundation Fellow. He serves on the Colorado Supreme Court Committee on Civil Jury Instructions, the Colorado Supreme Court Committee on Rules of Civil Procedure, and the Colorado Lawyers Committee Board of Directors, and was a member of the Colorado State Commission on Judicial Performance, which he chaired between 2012 through 2015.

Mr. Levin has also served as the chair of the Mountain States Regional Board of the AntiDefamation League of B’nai B’rith, is on that organization’s National Commission, and chaired its National Litigation Oversight Committee. In addition, Mr. Levin is on the board of directors of National Jewish Health.

Mr. Levin received the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association Kenneth N. Kripke Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015. He was recognized as Best Denver Insurance Lawyer by the Denver Business Journal (2004), as Barrister’s Best Insurance Lawyer (Plaintiff’s) by Law Week Colorado (2014-2018 & 2021), and as a Top Lawyer by 5280 Magazine (2016-2024). Mr. Levin is listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the areas of Appellate Law, Insurance Law, Litigation-Insurance, and Personal Injury Litigation, has been named Best Lawyers Denver Lawyer of the Year in Insurance Law (2013), Litigation-Insurance (2016 & 2021), Personal Injury Litigation (2015), and Appellate Law (2024), has been included in Band 1 by Chambers USA for Colorado Insurance (2023 & 2024), and has been recognized in Colorado Super Lawyers as one of the Top 10 Lawyers in Colorado (2013, 2016, 2018, & 2019-2024), and as one of the Top 50 (now 100) Lawyers in Colorado (2011, 2012, 2014-2015, & 2017).

I. What are the earmarks of a UM/UIM “bad faith” case? | 1:00pm – 1:12pm

II. What cases do not make a UM/UIM “bad faith” case? | 1:12pm – 1:24pm

III. What are the hurdles if you proceed? | 1:24pm – 1:36pm

IV. Are lower limits case worthwhile pursuing if plaintiff “wins”? | 1:36pm – 1:48pm

V. What are the biggest hurdles? | 1:48pm – 2:00pm

Break | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

VI. What are the economic considerations for determining if it is a “go”? | 2:10pm – 2:20pm

VII. Can you pursue a “bad faith” case if you settle? | 2:20pm – 2:30pm

VIII. Can the insurance company include the “bad faith” case in a Release? | 2:30pm – 2:40pm