Austin's Blog

Disability Lawyer

• AMLO receives jury verdict for $534,000 on an underinsured motorist insurance claim.
  AMLO receives jury verdict for $534,000 on an UIM claim. The policy limits were only $100,000 and the payment by the negligent motorist was $45,000. The UIM carrier had denied the claim saying $45,000 was adequate compensation. This was the value placed by Kentucky National Insurance Company on a 26-year-old able-bodied man who died while a passenger in a car wreck.
  The bad faith case is still pending and now moving forward rapidly.
  
  
  
  
• AMLO wins another critical discovery order against State Farm Insurance Company in a bad faith case.
  AMLO pioneered the ability to discover vital information, to obtain the true operations and motives of insurance companies in the KY Supreme Court decision of Grange v. Trude. 151 S.W. 3d 803 ( 2004). AMLO has now obtained yet another detailed decision by a Federal Magistrate Judge following nearly all the rulings in the Grange case. State Farm is ordered to produce the personnel files of its adjuster, certain quarterly newsletters, internal costs savings documents, and a list of other bad faith cases for a period of five years before AMLO's client was injured.
  
  
  
  
• ATLA invitation to become a member of 2009-2010 Top 100 Trial lawyers for Kentucky
  Austin Mehr has been invited to become a member of the American Trial Lawyers Association, 2009-2010 Top 100 Trial Lawyers for the state of Kentucky.
  
  
  
  
• AMLO obtains UIM settlement for client
  AMLO successfully negotiated a UIM settlement for our client injured in a Lexington motor vehicle accident.
  
  
  
  
• AMLO negotiated settlements for two mva clients
  AMLO successfully negotiated settlements for clients for injuries sustained in a rear end collision in Lexington, KY.
  
  
  
  
• Austin Mehr has been re-elected as treasurer of the AAJ Bad Faith Insurance Litigation Group
  Austin Mehr is pleased to announce that he has been re-elected as Treasurer of the AAJ's Bad Faith Litigation Group for the 6th consecutive year.
  
  
  
  
• Austin Mehr has been invited to speak at the KJA Insurance Claims Handling Practices Seminar
  Austin Mehr will be speaking on two matters at the KJA Insurance Claims Handling Practices Seminar, on April 16. Austin will be presenting a general session on Kentucky's Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act and discussing claims practices in disability insurance claims.
  
  
  
  
• AMLO wins against Reliance Standard for disabled client--- Federal Judge issues opinion critical of Reliance Standard's procedure for denying claim
  The federal judge rightfully was critical of the handling of the claim, ordering Reliance Insurance to re-evaluate the claim. The Federal opinion said:
  Reliance Standard’s ignoring Ron’s Social Security disability determination weighs against finding that Reliance ever engaged in a “deliberate, principled reasoning process.”
  Having benefited financially from the government’s determination that Ron was totally disabled, Reliance Standard Insurance Co. was obligated to weigh that determination, which it did not even consider.
  In the instant case, the fact that the defendant benefited financially from the SSA determination and later ignored the Agency’s findings justifies a higher degree of concern about a conflict of interest because Reliance is both deciding whether to pay and also the entity that is to pay the benefits.
  By failing to provide its reviewers with all relevant medical records, Reliance undermined the integrity of its own “Residual Employability Analysis” upon which it relied, which in turn undermines the integrity of its decision-making process. Reliance failed to consider Pemberton’s SSA determination at each stage of its decision-making process. This failure increases the significance of Reliance’s conflict of interest inherent in its determining eligibility and also being the entity that pays benefits. The fact that the second REA was based on insufficient information further undermines the integrity of Reliance’s decision-making process.
  
  
  
  
• Austin Mehr's latest bad faith article
  Austin Mehr’s bad faith case review article will be published in the next edition of the Kentucky Justice Association’s magazine, The Advocate.
  
  
  
  
• Austin Mehr announces plans for a new book
  Austin Mehr has announced plans for a new book on the topic a guide for trial judges on bad faith litigation.
  
  
  
  
• Austin Mehr wins disability benefits for client
  Austin Mehr Law Offices, P.S.C., wins disability benefits for client from Kentucky Retirement Systems.
  
  
  
  
• Austin Mehr Law Offices.P.S.C., opens Northern Kentucky office
  Austin Mehr Law Offices, P.S.C.’s new satellite office in Northern Kentucky is now open! We are pleased to have an office in northern Kentucky, as well as our office in the heart of downtown Lexington. Call 1-800-249-3731 for personal injury, disability insurance claims, insurance bad faith claims, Social Security claims.
  
  
  
  
• AMLO wins 5th victory in a row against Hamilton Mutual
  The Kentucky Supreme Court upheld Austin Mehr Law Offices' victory against Hamilton Mutual Insurance, forcing this company to pay AMLO's client for its bad faith conduct. This is the fifth time (out of five rulings) that AMLO has won against this company!
  
  
  
  
• Mehr Law Group wins for the 3rd time against Hamilton Mutual:
  The Kentucky Court of Appeals unanimously upholds a second punitive damage verdict from 2006 against Hamilton Mutual obtained by Mehr Law Group. The three judge panel agreed that Hamilton Mutual should indeed be punished for its conduct with its own insured, Mr. Barnett and upholds a verdict of $950,000.
  Barnett v. Hamilton Mutual, Kentucky Court of Appeals Case Numbers 2007-CA-29 and 2007-CA-64.