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024 “Bad Faith” Claims & How They Increase the Value of a Case

024 “Bad Faith” Claims & How They Increase the Value of a Case

Lawyers in the House with Montlick

Attorneys in Podcast: Bill Parker, Esq.

Have you ever heard of “acting in bad faith”? Well, it’s something that insurance companies can do, too.

And when they do, you want experienced attorneys like Bill Parker on your side.

On this episode, lawyers Nathan and Bill break down “bad faith” cases, what they are, how they can affect the value of a case, and why you need a lawyer from the beginning who can make sure you get the money you deserve.

*The law on the amount of bad faith damages that are recoverable varies by state.

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The purpose of this show is to provide general information about the law. Our guests will not provide any individualized legal advice. If you have a personal situation and need legal advice, contact us for your free legal consultation with a Montlick attorney.

Topics Discussed on the Podcast

Read the Episode Transcript

00:04	ANNOUNCER: Welcome to Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Wish you had a lawyer in the family? Now you do. Here’s your host, Veronica Waters. VERONICA: Welcome to the show, everybody. This is Lawyers in the House with Montlick. I am your host, Veronica Waters. And shout out to my Mississippi homeboy, John Grisham.
00:29	VERONICA: Not a lawyer in the house, but the author of a story which years and years ago introduced me to the concept that we’re going to be talking about today on Lawyers in the House. Also, my fellow Mississippi State bulldog, #HailState. Shout-out to John Grisham. Give me your word. Let’s shake on it. Pinky promise or pinky swear? However you say it. Pinky promise with the kiss.
00:57	VERONICA: However you choose to seal the deal, chances are it means something. Your word means something to you, and doing right by the other party is what’s important to you. Sometimes things are so serious, we put it in writing, goes on a contract. What happens, though, when somebody goes back on their word and you or someone you love is actually having one of the hardest times that life has to offer?
01:30	VERONICA: What happens if somebody doesn’t negotiate in good faith? It’s called bad faith. And that’s what we’re talking about today on Lawyers in the House with two fabulous attorneys from Montlick Injury attorneys. We begin with Nate the Great Kratzert, who this is his third time being on the show. If you’re a fan of the show, which I hope that you are, then you’re probably also a fan of Nathan, because he is one of the most brilliant attorneys that I’ve had the pleasure to get to know.
01:58	VERONICA: I keep trying to get him to sing. He was just saying before we cracked open the mics that I keep trying to get him to sing, and I’m so creative. But Nathan has perfect pitch, and he sings to his four children all of the time, but he won’t regale us with a tune. And I don’t know why. Anyway, back on the topic of the law… why won’t you sing for us, Nathan? NATHAN: I just don’t want to hurt the audience.
02:21	VERONICA: Nathan graduated from Miami University in Ohio and John Marshall Law School here in Atlanta and joined Montlick in 2012 after some years making a name for himself as an assistant district attorney and arguing a number of successful cases before the state supreme court and the Georgia court of appeals. So, Nathan’s been around the legal block for quite a while, as has our next fabulous attorney, Bill Parker. He’s not new to this. He’s true to this. What’s going on, Bill Parker?
02:49	VERONICA: Just… in the house? BILL: Yeah, Nathan here saved the day after some incidents with some battery issues with the car last night, but here on time today. VERONICA: Thank goodness for jump starters. BILL: Exactly. VERONICA: Or something. So Bill has been in the legal profession for 24 years now and came to Montlick in 2015? BILL: 2016. VERONICA: 2016. Bill has been named a top 100 trial lawyer in Georgia by the National Trial Lawyers Association. Born and raised in South Carolina. College of Charleston.
03:20	VERONICA: Got his JD from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School and again came to Montlick in 2016. And these two guys right here are two of the most driven, relentless lawyers that you will find in the legal profession, and I’m finding them sitting right here next to me. Guys, thanks for being in the house. NATHAN: Thank you for having us. I appreciate it very much. VERONICA: Nathan, tell me a little bit about you. I feel like I always want to get to know the lawyers who are sitting next to me and let the audience know, like, a little bit about your personalities.
03:53	VERONICA: But I’ve had you in here a couple of times, and this time I want to open the floor for you to tell me something about you, like your philosophy of life. NATHAN: I think there’s something on my bio page on our Montlick website: do what’s right, not what’s easy. It’s something that my father taught me when I was very young that a lot of times that you’re going to face challenges and you’re going to have to make hard decisions, and ultimately you have to do the right thing.
04:27	NATHAN: And it’s not always going to be easy, but when you go down that right path, you’re going to see the fruits of your labor. VERONICA: How do you gird yourself up? NATHAN: Sometimes it’s not easy. Sometimes you want to take the easy route. But ultimately, especially with four children at home, you have to set an example, and I take that very seriously. And also, my wife is very good about spurning me on, helping me do the right thing at all times. And also, I have colleagues like Bill at times where we have to talk to each other about cases and things of that nature.
05:00	NATHAN: And Bill is an excellent- what I would call a mentor in my life for purposes in my profession. VERONICA: I feel like Bill’s getting a little misty. BILL: And I don’t look much older than him. The word mentor might be not the appropriate… NATHAN: So, I’m not aging very well, apparently. VERONICA: Listen, I think you both have amazing skincare routines. You’re both glowing over here, so I can’t say who looks older. Let me just put that on the record. Okay? They both look amazing. You see them on the camera? Let the camera on these guys. You can see what they look like.
05:29	VERONICA: Okay. Bill Parker, I don’t know if you know this or remember this, but when we first met, you told me probably in the space of 45 minutes, three different times, I love being a lawyer. I love practicing law. I love the law. And that stuck out to me. I want to know, though, why, what is it?
05:56	BILL: Well, luckily for me, when I got into the practice of law, I had an uncle that was already doing plaintiff’s legal work, which means helping injured people. So, I was fortunate in that regard that he introduced me to this area of the law. And I think that maybe had I gone into another area of the law, I might not have had the passion that I did for so long. I’ve been doing the same type of practice for 24 years.
06:27	BILL: I’ve always represented injured people and I think that because you get the satisfaction of helping people at their lowest point in their time and making a big difference in their life, I think is what keeps me driven and keeps me happy with what I’m doing. VERONICA: When did you know that you were doing the right thing? BILL: Probably early on. It doesn’t take long when you’re able to assist somebody with a terrible situation they’re in.
06:59	BILL: It might have been my fifth or 6th case that I ever had. When you make a big difference in someone’s life and you’re sitting across from them and you’re handing them a check that’s going to make a difference in their life and they cry or they get up and give you a hug, those are the big moments in your career that keep you driven, because this is a tough business. It is a very hard business. It’s emotionally draining because you act as a lawyer, you act as a psychiatrist, you act as their family friend.
07:31	BILL: You put a lot of hats on in this business and sometimes it’s draining. But when you have those happy moments, it makes it all worthwhile. BILL: Beautiful. Thank you. Beautifully said. Thank you so much, Bill, for sharing that with me. And I saw Nathan… I learned something about Nathan while you were talking because when you were talking about clients hugging you, Nathan started nodding. So now I’ve learned that Nathan Kratzert is also a hugger. NATHAN: Very much a hugger. VERONICA: Again, guys, I want to say it one more time, thanks for being in the house. Here on Lawyers in the House with Montlick.
08:01	VERONICA: We are talking about some of those tough times I think that you go through in the business. I said I was going to shout out John Grisham at the beginning of the show because I was thinking about… do you know what the movie is that I’m talking about? Or the book? NATHAN: The book was The Rainmaker correct? VERONICA: Yes. The Rainmaker, for those of you who may not remember it or haven’t seen it yet, has to do with the rookie lawyer. These guys are not rookies, but has to do with a rookie lawyer who goes up against this mega monster mean insurance company which rightfully denied an insurance claim of a dying boy who had leukemia. And bad faith is what that’s called.
08:36	VERONICA: And I’ve learned so much about it. Just like sort of chatting with these guys. Now it’s time to bring you into the conversation. So let’s start off at a sort of high level. I talked about The Rainmaker, but is that really what bad faith looks like in real life? What is bad faith? BILL: Sure. I mean, when you hear the word bad faith in the context of insurance, the concept generally is that an insurance company has the obligation to investigate, evaluate, and timely pay valid claims.
09:08	BILL: And when you give… when an insured or a third party gives that insurance company the opportunity to do that and they don’t do the right thing by timely paying the claim or unreasonably denying it or delaying the claim, then that is bad faith. And so that’s generally the concept. We’re here today to talk about statutory bad faith and common law bad faith. And it’s a very broad topic, but we don’t have enough time to talk about all of it.
09:39	VERONICA: But apparently there are subsets of their different types of bad faith, is what you’re saying? BILL: Yes. I think I’m taking the role to talk about statutory bad faith, and Nathan’s going to discuss what’s called common law bad faith. When we say statutory bad faith, all that means is that the Georgia legislature has written two statutes that basically have a lot of requirements, but you can bring claims directly against the insurance company when they have engaged in bad behavior.
10:11	BILL: Nathan’s going to talk about common law, which is a little bit different. But generally the concept is if there’s two statutes, one is for first party claims, meaning if you… sort of like The Rainmaker, right? So, the lady in The Rainmaker, I think, had a disability claim or some kind of life insurance claim or something. So that would be a claim where that person is the insured. So, it would be a first party claim against your own insurance company. VERONICA: First party means me, so it’s my claim against my insurance. That’s first party.
10:41	BILL: You’re the policyholder. And the second statutory bad faith that I’m going to talk about is third party claims as it relates to property damage only. And that’s what… that’s this other statute that I’m going to talk about only relates to third party claims. And that is when someone else… and let’s just use the example of a car wreck where someone else hits you in your car and they’re at fault and you’re bringing a claim against their insurance company.
11:10	BILL: That is a third-party claim. VERONICA: Third party- the other guy. BILL: Correct. VERONICA: There’s not like grammar where there’s, like, first person, second person. Where’s the second person? Okay, we just skip that one? NATHAN: We might be the second person, I guess. VERONICA: Really? All right. So, in any case, it’s codified into Georgia law. It’s statutory. It’s in the books. So, everybody can see it in black and white. BILL: That’s right. And in the case with the statutory bad faith the legislature has written in there, it’s already written into the statute what the penalties are.
11:40	BILL: So, if there is a finding, a bad faith, then the insured or the third party can get of the loss or $5,000, whichever is greater, and attorneys’ fees. And so the common law is a little bit different because there’s unlimited amounts that you can seek in the situation that Nathan is going to talk about.
12:04	BILL: But as far as these two first-party claims and third-party property damage claims, it’s $5,000 or 50% of the loss, whichever is greater, which can make a huge difference… VERONICA: Huge difference . BILL: …in the value of a property damage claim or first party claim against your insurance company for whatever reason. VERONICA: Nathan, I mentioned at the top of the show how some things are so important they go into writing.
12:32	VERONICA: Not saying that a handshake is not important, but I know you’re passionate about how a contract is supposed to work between a person and their insurance carrier. NATHAN: Correct. So the most important thing to note about, like, the contractual relationships is that… and especially as it relates to bad faith… is that when you have purchased an insurance policy, you are giving them money and they are making a promise back to you to say, okay, for these sets of claims, you’ve given us this money.
13:02	NATHAN: And if this situation arises, we’re going to pay you for that situation. And that’s what our obligation is to do. So, it’s really important, especially as it relates to Bill on the first-party claim. And I think just to kind of speak to your point a little bit more clearly, is that that 50% or $5,000, whichever is greater, is in addition to whatever that actual loss is. And when Bill says that makes a huge difference, it does make a huge difference because if you think about it in terms of, like… let’s say, a life insurance policy… a life is obviously worth way more than $5,000.
13:33	VERONICA: We are going to talk a little bit about how these bad faith claims come to light. We’re talking to Nathan Kratzert and Bill Parker with Montlick Injury Attorneys. This is Lawyers in the House. You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Join us 08:00 a.m. Every Sunday if you want to listen live on 95 Five WSB. VERONICA: Welcome back to Lawyers in House with Montlick.
14:05	VERONICA: I’m your host. Veronica Waters, here with Nate the Great Kratzert and Bill “not new to this, true to this” Parker. We’re talking about bad faith today. And as Nathan just said, remember that a life is worth a lot more than just a handful of thousands of dollars. And we’re going to circle back to Nate in just a little while. Talking about common law bad faith. Bill, I’m curious about how this actually comes about. Is bad faith intentional?
14:37	BILL: I guess it could be intentional, but normally the way that this arises in the context of statutory bad faith is that the insurance company is either denying or delaying a valid claim, right? And so, a person is trying to get their property damage fixed on their automobile, and there’s a dispute about the value of the vehicle; or in the case of a first party, there’s a dispute as to life insurance proceeds or things like that.
15:07	BILL: So, I wouldn’t necessarily say that the insurance company is doing this intentionally all the time. Sometimes they just drop the ball. And so, in first party insurance coverage and the third-party statutory claims we’re talking about, this is why it’s so important to have a lawyer that’s knowledgeable about recognizing these situations, because even though the legislature has created these two statutes, there are very specific legal requirements that have to be met.
15:40	VERONICA: You got to go right through the needle. It has to be just so. BILL: Yes. And, I mean, there are hundreds of court of appeals decisions where people got it wrong, right? And where bad faith, after they’ve gone through the whole process, there is no finding a bad faith. So, in the situation of both the first-party claims and the third-party claims, there is a requirement that you send the insurance company a 60-day demand letter for a sum certain. So, if you claim your property damage is $20,000, you have to send a 60-day demand for $20,000 and give them 60 days to do the right thing before you can file a lawsuit.
16:16	BILL: If they don’t do the right thing within those 60 days, you can file a lawsuit, and you can seek, again, that 50% of the loss or $5,000, whichever is greater in attorney’s fees. VERONICA: Nathan, give me an example of a bad faith case that sticks with you. NATHAN: And just speaking in the context of what Bill was talking about, first-party, I had a client where he was involved in a car accident, and it was a clear situation as to the other party being at fault. And the insurance carrier, for whatever reason, decided to just say, nope, it was your client’s fault.
16:51	NATHAN: We ended up having to file a lawsuit just for that car damage. And even though the car was only worth $10,000, we ended up settling for their policy limits of over $25,000 just for the property damage loss. And that’s kind of like a minute example. I think the biggest thing to touch on with respect to what Bill is talking about, too, is it always matters what the contract says. What does it say? Is the person that’s filing the claim following all the requirements? Because most of the time, we think we just buy the policy.
17:21	NATHAN: If anything happens, we just get the money. But the reality is, you have to have a lawyer that’s… VERONICA: …who knows how to navigate… NATHAN: Exactly. VERONICA: …knows how to navigate the game. It’s more than just a slap on the wrist, the money that’s at stake when the insurance carrier isn’t following that contract. Coming up next on Lawyers in the House. You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Join us 08:00 a.m every Sunday on 95 five WSB.
17:46	VERONICA: Hey, hey, hey. Welcome back to Lawyers in the House with Montlick. I am your host, Veronica Waters. We are here with Nathan Kratzert and Bill Parker from Montlick Injury Attorneys. Don’t forget, if you missed some of the great stuff on the first part of the show, you don’t have to worry. You can find us online anytime at lawyersinhouse.com. Check us out on YouTube, anywhere you find your favorite podcasts. Hopefully by now you’re liking and subscribing. You will find us there.
18:15	VERONICA: And when you subscribe, you know the new episode pops right into your queue, so you don’t even have to search for us after that first time. And remember, you can always hit us up on social anytime at Montlick law on every single platform and drop us a question 24/7. [email protected] is the address. We’re talking about bad faith today on Lawyers in the House and it’s basically when insurance companies misbehave, right? But it’s not just a slap on the wrist that’s at stake that they get.
18:45	VERONICA: It’s like a lot of money at stake. NATHAN: There is. There can be a significant amount of money at stake, and especially as it relates… to jump into, like, the common law. Bad faith, which I was going to talk about, is obviously what we deal with most of the times is we have someone that calls us, they’ve been injured, oftentimes a car accident, sometimes a slip and fall, medical malpractice, those things. In the context of when we take those cases on, we’ll make a demand to an insurance carrier for the person that caused that injury.
19:15	NATHAN: And when the insurance company fails to pay the claim that they should have… Their duty is to protect that person that paid for their insurance. And when they decide not to pay that claim when they should, that’s when the common law of bad faith jumps into the equation here. And yes, there could be a significant amount of money that’s at stake. Probably one of the best examples is a lot of times in cases we’ll have somebody’s actual recovery is very limited by the amount of insurance somebody might have.
19:46	NATHAN: And in the situation where there is common law bad faith, and that does happen because the insurance here failed to act correctly, they failed to take the reasonable opportunity to settle the case when they could have. That client may actually have a much greater likelihood of getting to a recovery that is more in line with what their actual injury is. The example I can think of just off the top of my head is I had a family of five and the mother ended up passing away in the car accident.
20:18	NATHAN: She left behind four children and her husband; and an insurance carrier could have settled that case for, I think, roughly $100,000, because that was what the limited coverage was. But because they failed to take the reasonable opportunity that we gave to them to settle that case, they ended up having to pay in the seven figures. And the important thing… VERONICA: Millions. NATHAN: Yeah, exactly. And the important thing to note is that that didn’t bring back the children’s mother. This didn’t bring back this man’s wife.
20:50	NATHAN: The son’s never going to get to dance with his mother at his wedding. The daughters are never going to get to do things with their mom that… such as going dress shopping or anything like that. It’s over. And that money doesn’t make up for it. But what it does do is that it does give people an opportunity to have something that’s more in line with what the actual loss is. And the important thing to note about those situations is that they don’t just happen.
21:18	NATHAN: It’s very important that when these cases occur, that it doesn’t happen right from the first phone call. What happens is that there is a demand that is made to an insurance carrier. And we have to follow a very strict set of rules as to how we write that demand. And the insurance carrier actually partnered with lawyers like Bill and myself to write that statute to decide, okay, how are we going to make demands to be written so that way we feel like we’re on an equal playing field?
21:46	VERONICA: You mean… by that you mean, like, attorneys help the insurance companies to put this stuff in the law so that they said, we’re going to agree to do things this way. NATHAN: Exactly. And that gave us an opportunity to say, okay, so now when you guys do fail to take that reasonable opportunity, there is no excuse. We agree to this set of rules, you agree to these set of rules, you petition for this set of rules, and we agree to do that.
22:12	NATHAN: And when you still fail to take that reasonable opportunity, there are consequences; because you made the promise to pay when that loss occurred. You had this person pay out all this money for when that loss occurs. You said that they were, quote, in good hands, or that person would always be there for you. And then you weren’t. And that’s the most important thing. And that’s what garners and gets to a significantly higher value because the insurance carriers have a fiduciary duty, which means it’s beyond just…
22:45	NATHAN: I’m making a promise to Veronica. That fiduciary duty is to say, okay, I’m going to put myself into Veronica’s shoes as the insurance carrier and say, I’m going to treat Veronica’s case as if it were my case and I’m going to take this loss as it were my loss and keep that on an equal playing field. And when they still fail to do that, that’s when bad faith comes into the equation. VERONICA: It seems obvious from the bird’s-eye view what is the right thing to do, but I know that navigating the legal aspects of it…
23:18	VERONICA: Just because you see it doesn’t mean… it’s not what you know, it’s what you can prove. That’s what Alonzo said in Training Day. Shout out to Denzel Washington. Right. But it’s also, again, evidence of why you need somebody who’s skilled in this kind of thing. Right. Bill, any cases stick with you? BILL: Yeah, sure. Actually, in line with what Nathan said, a lot of times these bad faith common law cases happen when there is limited amount of insurance, but big injuries.
23:48	BILL: Right? So, the limits in Georgia, all you have to have is $25,000 per person worth of liability limits. I mean, that’s one trip to the ER for somebody, right. And then you’re over those limits. Every day it just amazes me how insurance companies can mess this up when they help create the rules. Right? And so, I just had a case a couple of weeks ago that I settled that Nathan actually had worked on, and we worked on it together.
24:16	BILL: A lady up in Gainesville who was T-boned by a 17-year-old girl and had a torn rotator cuff. And the girl’s family only had $25,000 worth of coverage on the vehicle. She had to have surgery on her shoulder. She had about $120,000 in bills. We sent a demand letter to pay the $25,000 policy limits, and the insurance company missed the deadline.
24:44	BILL: And we ended up settling that case a couple of weeks ago for $350,000. So they had to pay what’s called extra contractual money, more money than that person paid for those below coverage. They paid 350 on a case that only had $25,000. VERONICA: So they could have stroked a check for 25K and been done with it. BILL: Yeah, but they missed that deadline. And another case, that’s another tragic case that it’s just mind-blowing to me that… why the insurance company would have done this, I represent a man who lost his mother and his six-year-old son in a car wreck.
25:19	BILL: There were a total of four people who died in the wreck. There were three people injured in the other vehicle. The lady who was driving had $25,000 per person, $50,000 worth of insurance coverage. We sent a demand almost immediately to pay for the two wrongful deaths for the six-year-old kid and the mother and the insurance company missed the deadline. We ended up settling the mother’s case for a substantial amount of money.
25:49	BILL: And the case with the six-year-old child is still pending, and it’s likely to settle for millions of dollars when they could have settled those two cases for 50,000 total. VERONICA: It’s amazing. It’s amazing. And I just wonder what is behind that. I know, like, we’ve talked about the insurance carriers before, and it’s a business. They’re investing the money, they’re making the money. Their job is to make money. But on some things, it seems like that would be insurance carrier adjuster class 101.
26:19	VERONICA: Don’t miss a deadline, don’t nickel and dime. I mean, to a point. NATHAN: To a point, yes. But ultimately, I think that a lot of insurance carriers, they work on… it’s a very hot buzzword in the sports community- They work on these analytics and they know that so many people are not going to hire lawyers. VERONICA: Oh no. NATHAN: So many people are not going to really investigate what the insurance carrier tells them and they’re going to accept…
26:47	NATHAN: And they listen to that phone call and they go through that script with that person that has made that claim, and they’re just going to accept that. I mean, that happens every single day. And we’ll get phone calls and say, well, the insurance carriers said that I’ll get this amount of money, and I said, okay, and I cashed that check. But I have to have surgery now. It’s a heartbreaking phone call because this is someone that you know you could have legitimately helped. You know that you probably could have helped them work out maybe potentially some of their medical costs.
27:21	NATHAN: But you can’t do anything now, and you have to tell that person, I’m sorry, I can’t help you because this settled. And that’s why it’s really important to hold insurance carriers accountable when these things do happen. And like I think we’ve touched on before, the vast majority of claims professionals, a lot of them, they want to do the right thing. They want to do their jobs well. They are, generally speaking, highly trained, but they are also facing company mandates.
27:49	NATHAN: They’re also facing internal rules and regulations and that will be pushed upon them. And they want to keep their jobs. They don’t want to have to sit there and tell their husband or their wife, well, I lost my job today because I didn’t do what my manager told me to do. And that happens every day. It happens all the time. And part of the reason why the dollars get bigger is because… the irony is that, yes, we’re always advocating for our client, but the reality is that money gets bigger because the duty that was breached was to the person that actually caused the injury.
28:20	NATHAN: And what’s happening is that the insurance carrier is trying to buy out the risk that that person might actually sue them directly because they know that they could be on the hook for even greater sum. VERONICA: It’s a gamble. NATHAN: It is a gamble, and that’s exactly what they’re not supposed to do. The rule in Georgia is that if you gamble with your insurance financial, wellbeing, you’re acting in bad faith. They can’t roll the dice. Do other states have lawyers…
28:49	NATHAN: I’m sorry, laws written on the books like this for insurance carriers to follow? We’re in Georgia right now, but I know you guys do cases all over the country. NATHAN: We actually have a very unique common law bad faith situation because we actually have a statue on point. It’s not a bad faith statute, but we have a very unique statute about how demands and offers to settle cases should be written in terms of common law stuff. With third party injury claims…
29:14	NATHAN: I have scoured over the 50 states for something similar. And I think we’re probably one of the only states that has a situation where the rules for how to write an offer to settle are actually delineated and written by the… told by the legislature how we’re supposed to do it. VERONICA: Interesting, too, that the insurance companies are the ones who lobby for that law here in Georgia, right? NATHAN: Very much so. BILL: Yeah. I mean, it’s a level playing field, so everybody knows the rules.
29:45	VERONICA: It’s a punitive action, right? When they don’t do right… when you’re talking about this 50% more, that’s a huge amount of money sometimes, right? Punitive, it’s punishment for not doing the right thing. BILL: And it’s not just these huge cases we’re talking about, right. So, I’ll give you an example of a small case that makes a huge difference, right?
30:07	BILL: So there’s this thing called diminution of value in Georgia which basically, if your car gets in a wreck and you go to sell… and it gets fixed and you go to sell that car… two years from now that same model car that’s been wrecked is worth less than a car just like that that hasn’t been wrecked. And you’re entitled to that diminution in value, that difference in that value. And so, if you make a demand for diminution in value and they don’t meet it… and say you’re only arguing $3,000, right? In that particular situation, it would be 50% penalty.
30:40	BILL: Right. So that’s only 500 or the $5,000. So, you actually would turn a $3,000 case into an $8,000 case because you would get the 5,000 because it’s higher like that. VERONICA: Just like that. It’s amazing. Montlick has recovered billions of dollars for clients, and I’m starting now to understand why. Thanks so much to Nathan Kratzert and Bill Parker. We are just around the corner from the you-know-what: Montlick closing argument. Stay with us.
31:10	VERONICA: It’s coming right up. You’re listening to our podcast Lawyers in the House with Montlick. If you want to listen to our radio show live, you can hear it every Sunday, 08:00 A.m. On 95 Five. WSB. VERONICA: Lawyers in the House with Montlick back with you. And it’s what you’ve been waiting for all hour long. The Montlick closing argument is here with Nate Kratzert and Bill Parker.
31:41	VERONICA: You guys, the floor is yours. BILL: Okay. Well, if there’s a takeaway from this show that someone could really… if they learned anything from the show today, is that you got to have some lawyer, a knowledgeable lawyer to handle these claims for you. This is a very technical and complicated area of the law. And if you do not follow the steps verbatim, the insurance company is not going to have to pay these penalties.
32:12	BILL: They’re not going to have to pay this extra contractual money because they’re not going to voluntarily pay it. The law is going to have to make them pay it. And so, it’s just so important to find a lawyer and to hire a lawyer that’s knowledgeable in this area, if I can send any message home to the people that are listening.
32:32	NATHAN: Just to echo what Bill is saying, I think the most important thing I want the audience to take away here is that it’s so important, as Bill said, to contact the lawyer, contact the right attorneys that have the experience, that have the resources, that have the knowledge and are very much invested in understanding exactly what these statutes say, what they mean, how to use them to the client’s advantage. Contacting myself, Bill, at 1800 LAW NEED is extremely important early on. Because, again, like we’ve touched on earlier, the cases don’t happen just from the start.
33:06	NATHAN: These happen over time. As the case is being dealt with, as the case is being negotiated, and especially in the negotiation period, it’s important to have that attorney that understands and can identify, we have something here. They did not take this opportunity. And sometimes it’s literally as simple as missing one day. Sometimes it’s as simple as not getting the check to us on time. Sometimes it’s as simple as not saying that there’s no other insurance from the insurance carrier.
33:38	NATHAN: Those little things can make a huge difference. And so often what I find is I’ll speak to clients and they’ll tell me, well, this is what happened. This is what happened. And I sit there and I think to myself, I’m sorry, but I can’t do anything now because it’s already been resolved. And, yes, there was an opportunity there. You could have been more fully compensated, but there’s nothing I can do now. VERONICA: In our last seconds, Bill, I just have to ask… you talked earlier about how emotional it is. That moment has got to be devastating.
34:08	BILL: Oh, yeah. To sit across from a family and tell them, for the wrongful death of a family member, there’s only $25,000 worth of coverage. Or because you signed a release and you did not ask them for excess coverage or additional coverage because you didn’t know that that was available. And there’s nothing I can do. It’s one of the hardest things you can do as a lawyer. VERONICA: So, one of the quotes from The Rainmaker is, “I’m alone and outgunned, scared and inexperienced, but I’m right.”
34:40	VERONICA: You might be right, but do you know how to navigate that case if bad faith is right in your face? These guys do. Thank you so much to Bill Parker and Nate the great Kratzert. This is Lawyers in the House. I’m your host, Veronica Waters. We will see you next time.

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