BRUCE A. FRIEDMAN
Case Summaries
- Real Estate dispute between commercial broker and landlord over commission for the sale of commercial real estate. — Settled 12/11
- Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith case between healthcare company and insurance company over defense and indemnity for 18 underlying cases including a multi district class action. — Settled 2/12
- Commercial dispute between garment manufacturer and retailer over payment for goods sold. — Settled upon acceptance of the mediator’s proposal 3/12
- Consumer class action against sporting goods and clothing manufacturer alleging false advertising with respect to product claims for work out apparel. — Settled 3/12
- Suit by a 68 year old purchaser of life insurance allegedly promised the sale of the policy after two years. The case was brought against the broker and insurance company. — Settled 3/12
- Unique insurance coverage claim under an insurance policy involving interpretation of the policy with no legal or factual precedent. — Settled 4/12
- Legal malpractice claim and counterclaim for attorney’s fees arising out of an underlying loan transaction and claims of breach of fiduciary duty and conflict of interest. — Settled upon acceptance of the mediator’s proposal 4/12
- Insurance bad faith case arising out of refusal to defend and including claims for defense costs, Brandt fees, and punitive damages. — Settled 5/12
- Bad faith and insurance coverage cases against insurer for breach of accident and health policies for hospitalization. — Settled 6/12
- Fire insurance claim for damage to luxury home including claims of breach of contract and bad faith. Issues included cause of loss and cost of repair. — Settled 7/12
- Wildfire subrogation case against utility company claiming fire started by downed power line. — Settled 8/12
- Bank vs. borrower for declaratory relief and equitable subrogation with respect to a loan made to refinance a home. The case presented the issue of lien priority of the refinanced loan. — Mediator’s proposal made and accepted by the parties 10/12
- Class action against a national bank arising out of cancellation of equity lines of credit secured by borrowers’ homes. Plaintiffs alleged that the bank cancelled the lines of credit based on general market data and without consideration of the actual property value of each home. — Settled with a mediator’s proposal as to plaintiffs attorney’s fees 10/12.
- Bad faith insurance case alleging that insurer misrepresented the policy limits and refused to make a settlement offer to it’s insured under an underinsured motorist policy. — Settled 11/12
- Multi party real estate dispute involving claims of specific performance of a contract to purchase a luxury condominium and realtor errors and omissions claims by both buyer and seller. — Settled 2/13
- Commercial Bank claim against insurance company and broker arising out of a fire loss to insured property and payment of the loss to the owner/borrower, and not to the bank. Cross claims by owner/borrower against insurer for payment of the fire loss and by insurance broker against owner/borrower for indemnity. — Settled 2/13
- Insurance company claim against policyholder for overpayment of claim and rescission of a business risk policy based on submission of a fraudulent claim. — Settled 2/13
- Business vs insurance broker for failing to obtain adequate business interruption coverage. — Settled 3/13
- Securities and fraud claim by an investor in a telecom tech company against officers of the company who allegedly misrepresented the companies sales projections and financial condition inducing the investor to make the investment. Significant insurance coverage issues under the D&O policy had to be resolved in connection with the settlement. — Settled 3/13
- Shareholder dispute over the ownership and control of a retail chain of women’s stores. This mediation was conducted before any litigation and resulted in a buy-sell agreement and a change of control of the entity. — Settled 4/13
- Declaratory relief action by a general liability insurer against the judgment creditor of its insureds who had obtained judgments in excess of $2 million against the insureds for diminution of value of property as a result of their conduct. Issues included what constituted an occurrence and property damage under the policy. — Settled 5/13
- Life insurance case involving the issue of ownership of the policy and notice of cancellation. The insured was Asian and did not speak English. After she passed away, the family learned that the policy had lapsed the year before her death. The son claimed that he was identified on the application as the owner of the policy and should have received notice. Insurer had a policy endorsement showing change of ownership to the insured mother. Settled — 5/13
- A number of suits by Contractor for restoration services following burst plumbing and sewage pipes against homeowners indemnified by their insurer. Settlement involved the creation of a protocol for payment by the insurer for services rendered by the contractor as to future claims and a resolution of the actions against the homeowners. — Settled 5/13
- TCPA class action with significant D&O insurance coverage issue regarding the scope of the invasion of privacy exclusion. — Settled 8/13
- Business broker seeking to recover judgment against former client for commission earned in the sale of a business against the client’s management liability insurance policy. — Settled 8/13
- Third party judgment creditor of an insured company obtained an assignment from the insured company and sued the company’s insurer claiming a breach of the defense and indemnity obligations under an errors and omissions policy. The insurer argued that the original claim against its insured was one for restitution, not for damages. — Settled 10/13.
- D & O Liability insurer sued its insureds in USDC for a declaratory judgment that the policy did not afford coverage for a multimillion dollar verdict against the insureds for unfair competition and theft of trade secrets. The insureds counter claimed asserting coverage and bad faith claims. — Settled 10/13
- Investor in a start up company in the U.K. that was creating a chain of high end oil change facilities as an alternative to warranty work at the dealer sued the directors and officers of the UK company for violation of California Securities laws and misrepresentation. — Settled 11/13
- Victim of Ponzi scheme sued broker, insurer and lender claiming that the selling agent of the Ponzi scheme investment was the agent of these entities used to facilitate the investment. — Settled 11/13