Question

7. Anne Attorney represents Ingrid Insured in a personal injury case. Attorney was retained by Insured’s insurance company, which is paying Attorney’s fees. However, the insurer has reserved its rights to deny coverage for punitive damages, which are not covered by the policy. In the course of a confidential interview Attorney learned from Insured that she had feelings of malice toward the plaintiff. She is therefore concerned that there is a serious risk of punitive damages. The plaintiff offers to settle for policy limits, and the insurer asks Attorney to provide a written evaluation of the settlement offer. What should the attorney do, if anything, about the information concerning Insured’s state of mind towards the plaintiff? Please explain.

Answer 1

It is the duty of attorney to maintain highest standards of professional integrity while discharging his duties. In this case he has to give his objective observation considering all the facts at his disposal and connecting all the threads to arrive at a correct picture. The insured may have some doubts towards the plantiff which the attorney is supposed to investigate on merits and circumstantial evidences. At this point, attorney's knowledge, his experience and his capacity to read between the lines will be put to a big testas upon his recommendations the insurance company will decide upon the amount of compensation. In a way we can say that this is a tight rope walk for the attorney.

To conclude he is not supposed to provide information concerning Insured's state of mind towards the plaintiff for which he is not paid.