About the Amicus Library

Welcome to the Amicus Project library.  Here you will find copies of the 400+ legal briefs United Policyholders has filed as an "amicus curiae" (friend of the court) since 1991. We file amicus briefs to help courts respect and effectuate consumers' reasonable expectations of coverage and reach fair results in coverage and claim dispute lawsuits.  In addition to calling courts' attention to helpful legal precedents, UP helps judges consider the impact of their decisions on people and businesses that suffer dire consequences when insurance companies put their own profit motives ahead of their customers' best interests.

The United Policyholders Amicus Project is made possible by the hundreds of dedicated policyholder attorneys who generously volunteer their time to write, review and edit our briefs. Click here to view the attorneys who make up our Amicus Project Team. 

To request that UP weigh in on a case, please complete this Request Form.

UP chronicled our Amicus Project in a 2011 report titled "Twenty Years Protecting, Defending and Advancing Policyholders Rights" 

Amicus Library

Karas v. Liberty Insurance Corporation
Year:
2018
Court:
Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut
Issue:
Contract Interpretation, Ambiguous Terms and Extrinsic Evidence
State:
Connecticut

"Substantial impairment of structural integrity" is the applicable standard for "collapse" and need not be clarified.

Erie v. Moore, McCutcheon
Year:
2018
Court:
Superior Court of Pennsylvania
Issue:
Duty to Defend
State:
Pennsylvania

Insurance companies may not preemptively discern an intent to cause injury when a complaint alleges accidental injury to nullify the insurer's duty to defend.

Travelers Indem. Co. v. Mckenzie & Sons, Inc. et al.
Year:
2018
Court:
Eleventh Circuit
Issue:
Duty to Defend
State:
Florida

In its brief, UP argues that the District Court erred in determining Travelers did not owe a duty to defend based on Exclusion (j)(5).

Fils v. Starr Indemnity & Liability Insurance Company
Year:
2018
Court:
Louisiana Court of Appeal, Third Circuit
Issue:
Ten-year prescriptive period for bad faith refusal to pay claim , Duty of good faith and fair dealing
State:
Louisiana

In its brief UP argues taht the District Court erred in maintaining Star Indemnity & Liability Insurance Company's Exception of Prescription to Fils' First Supplemental and Amending Petition... Read more

Harvey v. Geico
Year:
2017
Court:
Florida Supreme Court
Issue:
Bad Faith, Fiduciary Obligation to Protect its Insured from a Judgement that Exceeds the Limits of the Insured's Policy
State:
Florida

The Florida Supreme Court held there was substantial evidence to support the jury's finding that Geico acted in bad faith in failing to settle a fatal car crash claim against its policyholder and... Read more

House Concurrent Resolution No. 89 Position Paper
Year:
2018
Court:
Issue:
Prescriptive period to an insured's bad faith claim
State:
Louisiana

UP's position paper submitted to the Louisiana State Law Institute to urge and request the Institute support application of a ten-year prescriptive period to an insured's bad faith claims against... Read more

Susan Hicks and Don Williams, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Company, Defendant-Appellant.
Year:
2018
Court:
U.S. Court of Appeal, 6th Circuit
Issue:
Depreciation of Labor
State:
Kentucky

This amicus brief discusses the wrongful depreciation of labor, an insurer strategy to minimize benefit payments after a loss.

Opry Mills Mall Limited Partnership et al v. Arch Insurance Company et al
Year:
2018
Court:
Tennessee Supreme Court
Issue:
Policyholder Reasonable Expectations
State:
Tennessee

The rules of insurance policy interpretation in the States of Tennessee and Indiana are well-settled law and should continue to preserve policyholders' reasonable expectations of coverage.

Jane Doe v. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Inc. and the Harvard Pilgrim PPO Plan MA Group Policy # 0588660000
Year:
2018
Court:
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Issue:
ERISA requires a fiduciary to investigate and to seek and to obtain readily-available information necessary to decide a benefit claim.
State:
Massachusetts

This amicus brief addresses the ERISA fiduciary’s duty under the ERISA statute and Secretary of Labor regulations to afford full and fair review when a fiduciary denies a benefit claim This duty... Read more

Lammert et al v. Auto Owners Mut. Ins. Co.
Year:
2018
Court:
Tennessee Supreme Court
Issue:
Depreciation of Labor
State:
Tennessee

Tennessee law upholds a policyholder's reasonable expectations of coverage. Consistent with those principles, the cost of labor should not be depreciated.