Julie Barnes, Plaintiff/appellee, and Michael Barnes, by and Through His Mother and Next Friend, Julie Barnes…

Summary

The court affirmed the jury’s verdict that the insurer breached its implied duty of good faith and fair dealing, upheld submission of punitive damages without the statutory cap, and upheld the $1.5 million punitive award. It held that the insurer’s interpretation of the underinsured-motorist statute was unreasonable and that its handling of the claim was a bad-faith effort to delay or reduce benefits. The court reversed the $300,000 attorney-fee award and remanded for consideration of fees under a recognized exception to the American Rule. OPALA, J., dissenting, would have preserved the attorney-fee award as damages and rejected the retrospective overruling of Brashier.