8-Figure Settlement: Calistoga Ranch Owner, LLC v. AIG Specialty Insurance Company, et al., Napa County Superior Court, Case No. 21CV001530

Calistoga Ranch Owner, LLC v. AIG Specialty Insurance Company, et al., Napa County Superior Court, Case No. 21CV001530

Case Issue:       Insurance bad faith, denial of property insurance benefits

Result:             8-figure settlement

Our client was a Homeowners Association whose members included time share owners of a resort property in Napa County, California.  The resort burned to the ground as a result of a wildfire.  The client sought coverage under a $100,000,000 insurance program.  Several of the insurers that participated in that program denied coverage, refusing to pay the full policy limits claiming that Occurrence Limit of Liability Endorsements (“OLL Endorsements”) applied to limit the coverage.

The case was hotly contested and involved 10+ depositions, over a million pages of documents, and significant law and motion practice.  We obtained a judgment from the Court holding that the insurers’ OLL Endorsements were “unenforceable” as a matter of law because they violated California’s fundamental “conspicuous, plain and clear” rule of policy interpretation.  The case settled a month before trial while cross-motions for summary judgment were pending before the Court.