Court Dismisses Bad Faith Claim Defended by Terry

Merely moving from state A to state B does not mean you get to then sue people from state A in state B. Yet this is the factual scenario confronting an insurance company who hired Brian K. Terry to defend it from a bad faith claim. The company operated exclusively in one east coast state. Two residents of that state bought an insurance policy. They later moved to Nevada and tried to sue the insurance company for allegedly breaching its obligations under the insurance policy.

Mr. Terry recommended the company file a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. The company had never done business in Nevada. It instead sold a policy to people in another state based on that state’s laws.

Today United States District Court Judge Andrew Gordon granted the motion. “The key question is one of due process: would it be fair, based on [the company]’s contacts with Nevada, for it to expect to have to defend itself in a Nevada court. I find that it would not be fair.”