Case ID: a2d_502/html/1047-01.html
Source: Caselaw Access Project
Author: {"author": "", "license": "Public Domain", "url": "https://static.case.law/"}
Date Created: 2024-08-24T03:29:51.129683

ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY v. Joseph E. EARLEY.
    Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.
    Argued Nov. 8, 1985.
    Decided Jan. 9, 1986.
    Hewes, Beal & Douglas, Martica Sawin Douglas (orally), Portland, for plaintiff.
    Zuckerman & Avaunt, Mary B. Devine (orally), Gray, for defendant.
    Before McKUSICK, C.J., and NICHOLS, ROBERTS, WATHEN, GLASSMAN and SCOLNIK, JJ.
   MEMORANDUM OF DECISION.

Joseph E. Earley appeals a decision of the Superior Court, Cumberland County, denying his claim for attorney fees incurred by Earley in his successful defense of a declaratory judgment action brought by his insurer, Allstate Insurance Company. Allstate sought to avoid any obligation to afford liability coverage to Earley in relation to a claim against him for personal injuries that resulted from a shooting. (For a description of the incident, see State v. Earley, 454 A.2d 341, 342-43 (Me.1983)). We have recently decided that in these circumstances the insured is not entitled to attorney fees unless the insurer’s actions can be attributed to a “bad-faith refusal to honor its contract obligation to defend.” Union Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. Town of Topsham, 441 A.2d 1012, 1019 (Me.1982).

The entry is:

Judgment affirmed.

All concurring.