Legal Question in Insurance Law in Arizona

Denial of Insurance claim payment

I am involved in a law suit at this time, against an insurance company. what are my options ? the superior court judge has divided the case from bad faith to a breach of contract, thus sending it to arbitration, the arbiter agreed with the insurance attorney and awarded judgement against me. according to the first arbiter, the judge made this case a procedural mess, by not answering motions, etc. as a pro-per plaintiff when this case started i proved the judge wrong on numerous orders and proved the defense attorney made false comments in his oral arguments and thru his pleadings but the judge ignored my pleadings so i hired an attorney. we've tried to depose the adjuster only to be told she moved and is no longer employed - where abouts unkown. i started this action because of the neglect in service and failure to pay an approved claim by an adjuster --- i might have to pay all the legal costs --- what are some options ? 1. trial by jury denied 2. judge errors during proceedings 3. judge divided case bad faith- breach 4. defendants attorney lies to court 5. arbiter grants award because we would not agree to binding arbitration it is my opinion we are losing this case because of the unfair practices of the court.


Asked on 11/06/97, 7:51 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

You get what you pay for

Although you don't provide a great deal of information, I'm afraid your problems stem from your delay in retaining an attorney. Pro per plaintiffs often don't understand the proceedings well enough to represent themselves effectively, and may make enough of a mess of their case that an attorney entering late in the process may not be able to undo the damage. You are probably not "losing this case because of the unfair practices of the court" but because of your handling of the case. This is why it is almost always a bad idea to bring a lawsuit in pro per. If it's too big for small claims court, it's probably too big to handle on your own.

Besides, given that you say you now have an attorney, you shouldn't need to seek legal advice on line. You ask what your options are. Ask your lawyer this question instead.

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Answered on 11/07/97, 3:43 pm


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