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January
2007
Are all insurance companies really the “good neighbors”
they claim to be? Not according to one U.S. District Court
judge who recently ruled against State Farm Insurance Company
and in favor of a Mississippi couple who lost their home
during Hurricane Katrina. This month’s feature article
highlights the recent verdict in Mississippi, resulting
in a jury awarded of $2.5 million in punitive damages based
on State Farm’s denial of their claim for hurricane-related
damage to their home.
Insurance companies are increasingly limiting the circumstances
and events that trigger coverage under all kinds of insurance
policies. In light of this trend, consumers must become
better acquainted with the terms of their personal and business
insurance policies, to better ensure they do not find themselves
without the coverage they believed they had. When in doubt,
consumers should direct specific questions regarding coverage
to their insurance agent or directly to their insurance
company, and request a response in writing. Instead of treating
your insurance company as “a good neighbor”,
regard them as an entity with which you do important business,
which means “read the fine print before you sign”.
Eric Parker
Broussard
v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Co.
In late August, 2005 after Hurricane Katrina ripped through
Mississippi, Norman and Genevieve Broussard returned to
their Brady Street home to find only a slab remained. Mr.
and Mrs. Broussard reported the loss promptly to their homeowner’s
carrier who denied their claim. Specifically, State Farm
Fire and Casualty Co. claimed that water destroyed the Broussard
house and water damage was not covered by the homeowner’s
policy. With no other option, Mr. and Mrs. Broussard filed
a breach of contract claim against State Farm seeking almost
$224,000 for damage done to their home and personal belongings
as well as $5 million in punitive damages for State Farm’s
failure to compensate them under the policy’s terms.
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full article...
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Eric
J. Parker elected Vice President of the Massachusetts Chapter
of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) |
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 Boston
trial attorney, Eric J. Parker, has been elected Vice President
of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Board of Trial
Advocates (ABOTA), for a two year term commencing January
1, 2007. The mission of ABOTA is to foster improvement in
the ethical and technical standards of practice in the field
of advocacy to the end that individual litigants may receive
more effective representation and the general public be
benefited by more efficient administration of justice consistent
with time-tested and traditional principles of litigation.
Membership in ABOTA is by nomination and election by existing
members only. The Massachusetts Chapter includes many of
the Commonwealth’s best known and most successful
trial lawyers.
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Susan M. Bourque named "Massachusetts
Rising Star" by Publishers of Boston Magazine |
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 Parker
Scheer partner, Susan M. Bourque, has been named a "Massachusetts
Rising Star" in 2006 by the publishers of Boston Magazine
and Law and Politics Magazine. The distinction, awarded
to less than five (5%) percent of all Massachusetts lawyers,
was based on ballots cast by Massachusetts attorneys, asking
them to identify the best lawyers, under the age of 40,
whom they had personally observed in action.
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Attorney
Joseph M. Burke Joins Parker Scheer LLP as Of Counsel |
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 Attorney
Joseph M. Burke, formerly a partner in the Wellesley law
firm of BURKE and BURKE, has joined Parker Scheer LLP as
Of Counsel, effective February 1, 2007, and will continue
to concentrate in the area of serious workers’ compensation
and personal injury law.
Attorney Burke brings nearly twenty-five years of active
experience in the representation of injured workers and
their families. Attorney Burke has represented injured employees
in workers' compensation cases before the Massachusetts
Department of Industrial Accidents, and is counsel of record
on numerous appeals before the Reviewing Board of the DIA
and the Appeals Courts of the Commonwealth. |
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