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Insurer Ordered To Pay Contractor $2.5M For Botched Defense
Law360 (July 6, 2021, 8:18 PM EDT) -- An Oregon federal judge on Tuesday ordered Preferred Contractors Insurance Co. to pay $2.5 million to a contractor for failing to properly defend it in an underlying construction defect suit, finding the insurer's objections to a magistrate's recommendation were without merit.
U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon rebuffed PCIC's argument that policyholder Hospitality Management Inc.'s ownership by the same apartment complex that initiated the underlying suit created an inference that a $2.5 million settlement reached between HMI and general contractor KeyWay Corp. before trial was "inherently collusive." He adopted in full U.S. Magistrate Judge Youlee Yim You's March 17 recommendation, which...