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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
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
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
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.
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.
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
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.
Year:
2018
Court:
Connecticut Supreme Court
Issue:
Reasonable Expectations, Collapse Coverage
State:
Connecticut
It is black letter law that ambiguous terms in insurance policies must be construed against the drafter (the insurer) in favor of coverage for the policyholder in accordance with their reasonable... Read more
Year:
2018
Court:
U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit
Issue:
Reasonable Expectations, Contra Proferentem/Contract Interpretation
State:
Washington
Insurance policies are contracts of adhesion.
Year:
2018
Court:
U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit
Issue:
Causation/Direct Loss, Cybercrime Coverage, Ambiguities/Reasonable Expectations
State:
New York
Businesses are increasingly looking to their property and liability insurance policies for indemnification and defense in connection with cyber crimes including data breaches, hacks and ransomware... Read more
Year:
2018
Court:
Appellate Division, First Department
Issue:
Scope of Appraisal
State:
New York
Appraisal is an expeditious, cost-effective procedure by which the policyholder and the insurance company can resolve disputes without resorting to litigation.