Opinion ID: 1793652
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: foster v. hartford, coker and williamson

Text: As above noted, from their investigation of the accident scene and interviews with Harris and the law enforcement officers, Coker and Williamson were of the opinion there was no liability, although the plaintiff would probably be able to make a jury issue on whether Harris was negligent. Counsel for Sims did not furnish any medical documentation until the Friday before trial date on Monday, September 12, 1977, when it was received by Coker's office. Coker, who was in Magee preparing for the trial, did not see the medical information until the day of the trial. Sims had suffered multiple fractures and his arm was permanently injured. At the time of trial he had undergone several operations on his arm, and had medical expenses of approximately $12,000, as well as a wage loss. Coker was aware prior to trial, however, from Sims's pretrial deposition that the injury to his arm was serious. On the morning of the trial the circuit judge told the attorneys the case should be settled. Counsel for Sims then offered to settle for $45,000. Coker first informed Foster of the settlement offer. Foster, while expressing the belief his son-in-law was not at fault, nevertheless told Coker he wanted to settle the case. Coker responded that he would have to be honest with Hartford when he called about the settlement offer, that according to what Harris had consistently stated, there was no liability whatever, and Foster had told him Harris was a truthful person. Furthermore, the investigating officers would testify to physical facts at the scene that corroborated Harris's version. Coker then told Foster that if there was anything he could tell him in order that he could relate it to Hartford, to give it to him. Foster had no further factual information to give Coker. Coker did not advise Foster to seek independent counsel when the offer of settlement was made. Coker's explanation was that he had advised Foster when he was retained he could hire his own counsel, ... but in regard to those offers, no, I didn't advise him because I don't know what it could possibly have accomplished. Coker then called Napper, related the offer of settlement, and also Foster's expressed desire to settle. When he related the offer, he also told Napper he was concerned that Foster was under-insured and that if the settlement offer ever were reduced to $20,000-$25,000, even though he considered Harris was not liable, then we might ought to consider it, but I didn't know what was going to happen. (R. 932) The settlement offer was rejected by Napper. As trial progressed the plaintiff's demand was reduced to either $35,000 or $40,000, which likewise was rejected by Napper. Coker testified he related these offers to Foster as well as Hartford. Foster denied he was told of any offers following the first offer to settle for $45,000. When the trial had been completed and the jury had retired to reach a verdict, the circuit judge again told counsel it was not too late to settle. Sims's attorneys then agreed to settle for $30,000. When this offer was made, Coker and Williamson had a private conference about it. Just before their discussion Coker asked the circuit clerk, whose opinion he respected, what he thought the verdict might be. The clerk was of the opinion that the plaintiff would get a goose egg. Foster was not present at the conference between Coker and Williamson. It was the opinion of each attorney that the trial had gone well for the defense and that the odds overwhelmingly favored either a defense verdict or a modest plaintiff's verdict. Williamson felt that at the very most the jury would not render a verdict in excess of Sims' special damages, ranging from $2,000-$3,000 to at the most $15,000-$18,000. Coker then telephoned Napper and told him of the offer, and related his and Williamson's view, but added that because Foster was under-insured, that if the plaintiff would take $25,000 they should offer it. Napper then rejected the $30,000 offer but authorized Coker to offer $25,000 in settlement. Coker testified that he then made the counteroffer of $25,000 to Sims' counsel, who rejected it. The Sullivans, while recalling Coker's mentioning a possibility of getting $25,000 in settlement, one recalling his saying he would recommend it, did not recall Coker having made a positive counteroffer of $25,000. Both testified, however, that had he made a positive counteroffer it would have been promptly rejected. In any event, it is clear that neither made any affirmative response to Coker's mentioning of a possible $25,000 settlement. Coker and Williamson both testified that following this final failure to effect a settlement, they both went over to Foster in the courtroom and related to him all that had transpired. Foster, on the other hand, positively denied having been told anything about the $30,000 offer and $25,000 counteroffer. Coker testified that he never thought the plaintiff's case was worth $25,000 and the only reason he recommended it to Hartford was to remove from Foster the excess liability exposure. He repeatedly affirmed his strong confidence in his case until the jury verdict was returned. Coker said he considered that he was looking out after the interest of Foster and Harris. Coker testified: Q. Mr. Coker, before this leaves my mind, I want to ask you about a very recent question that was just asked you by Counsel. Counsel asked you whether or not you ever told Mr. Foster or Donald Harris that you were representing only The Hartford's interest in this prior lawsuit. My question to you is were you representing only The Hartford's interest in that lawsuit? A. Absolutely not. Up through that trial, I was spending my efforts for them. As I said to begin with, Hartford hires me to defend their insured. The only thing they really ask of me is to be honest with them about my evaluations. And I had gone to the scene of the accident several times that I wouldn't have gone had they had plenty of insurance. It was their interest I was working at. Q. Their interest being the Fosters and Mr. Harris? A. Right. Q. Was it their interest or The Hartford's interest that you considered when you recommended to Hartford that they pay $25,000.00? A. Just theirs. Q. The Fosters, you mean? A. The Fosters. If they had had no insurance, I wouldn't have recommended it; and if they had had a million dollars, I wouldn't have recommended it. The under insurance was the thing that concerned me. (R. 989-990) Coker's only concern with the case were the heavy medical expenses and the serious injury to Sims's arm. He did think the jury was nondescript, and had no businessmen on it. Williamson, however, had confidence in the jury. Coker felt it was his legal and ethical responsibility to give Hartford as fair and realistic an evaluation of the case as he could throughout, which he testified he attempted to do. Williamson as a witness was more emphatic even than Coker that this was a case of no liability. He said if only Hartford had been exposed he would have recommended that nothing be offered in settlement. He also said Sims's testimony was incoherent, and that Sims was not owed anything as a result of the accident. As to the outcome of the trial, he testified, This simply was a flout [sic] that happens. It had not happened before nor has it happened since in my experience as a lawyer. (R. 906) Williamson also testified that prior to the Sims trial he had told Foster he could get another attorney to assist in the defense of the case. Napper corroborated Coker's testimony about the settlement offer related to him. He said that following Coker's first call about the $45,000 offer he telephoned his superior, who authorized payment of $25,000 to settle the case if Napper and Coker thought it advisable. Napper also testified that Coker kept him apprised during trial including a $35,000 or $40,000 settlement offer. As to Coker's call about the $30,000 offer, Napper related: Right. He indicated that the  all the testimony had gone better than we could've expected it to, there were no surprises, the testimony was excellent, and in his opinion and Mr. Williamson's opinion that it was a case of no fault and that the jury would bring back a verdict for the Defendant, but because of the remote possibility of an excess judgment as to Mr. Foster, he recommended that we make an offer of $25,000 to settle the case; and I told him I would give him the $25,000, but I hoped they didn't take it. [Emphasis added] (R. 1057-1058) On April 23, 1982, Foster gave a pretrial discovery deposition. At that time he was 67 years old, retired, and had sold his business to Harris. Foster died on January 8, 1983, and the cause was revived by court order on September 6 in the name of his widow as administratrix. In his deposition Foster recalled Coker telling him two or three times that he did not have enough insurance coverage, and he had known from the beginning that he was being sued in excess of his coverage. He said he could not deny Coker told him that he could retain another attorney. He remembered Coker telling him of the offer to settle for $45,000. His response upon hearing this was, Well, that lets me out, Mr. Coker, and told Coker he was ready to settle, that it was just a matter of dollars and cents to him. He said that Coker told him his insurance company would not let him settle the case. On his deposition Foster seemed to have a great deal of difficulty answering a number of questions, and memory problems. He testified that neither Coker nor Williamson told him about any further settlement offers after the $45,000 offer, and, as stated, he was positive that he was never told about the $30,000 offer. Foster was unable to state in his own words the basis for the allegations in the declaration. It seemed to be his prime contention that since he was insured for $50,000 and since an offer of settlement was made within those limits, it was the duty of Hartford to go ahead and pay it in order to see that he was not damaged. This was despite the fact he remained convinced Harris had not been negligent in any manner in the accident. He also complained that he was not told of the $30,000 offer of settlement. He never stated that had he known of the Sims offer of $30,000 and Hartford's willingness to pay $25,000 he would have been willing to pay the additional $5,000 to settle the case. Foster admitted that after the circuit judge overruled the motion for a new trial he was unwilling to enter into any negotiations with the plaintiff whereby he might have paid something out of his own pocket and thereby settled the case. At one time Sims's lawyers offered to settle the case for an additional $20,000 over the policy limits, and Coker wrote Foster for authority to negotiate some settlement with them, expressing the hope he might persuade them to reduce the demand further. Foster did not give Coker any authority. Foster also conceded in his deposition that he was never willing to pay anything towards settlement, that the insurance company should have paid it. (R. 542) Trial in this case was held March 27-29, 1984. Harris did not testify. Following trial, after the court overruled defense motions for directed verdicts, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Foster's estate against the defendants for $30,000. Hartford, Coker and Williamson have appealed. Foster's estate has cross-appealed the refusal of the circuit court to permit the issue of punitive damages to be submitted to the jury, and refusal to allow pre-judgment interest.