Melissa Bailey and Corey Mendel recently obtained a ruling from the Georgia Court of Appeals upholding the Bibb County trial court’s dismissal of a plaintiff’s claim against a John Doe defendant for lack of jurisdiction. The case arose from an out-of-state collision involving a non-Georgia resident who was not named as a Defendant to the suit. The Court of Appeals held that because the plaintiff knew the identity of the alleged tortfeasor and failed to name them within the action, the plaintiff had failed to meet a prerequisite for relief. Affirming the trial court’s ruling, the court held that it lacked jurisdiction over our client and dismissed the plaintiff’s claims in their entirety.  

For informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in future cases.

Melissa Bailey and Corey Mendel recently won a motion for judgment on the pleadings in a first-party bad faith case for a national insurance carrier. In addition to finding no bad faith, the Court found that the plaintiff’s breach of contract claims were brought outside of the suit limitations period of the policy warranting dismissal of the case in its entirety. The case was pending in the Superior Court of Newton County.  

For informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in future cases.

Melissa Bailey recently won summary judgment in a first party bad faith case for a national insurance carrier. In addition to finding no bad faith, the Court found the suit was frivolous and lacked substantial justification, awarding attorney’s fees to our client. The case was pending in the State Court of Gwinnett County.

For informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in future cases.

Melissa Bailey and Fred Valz recently won summary judgment in a declaratory judgment action related to a wrongful death action. Melissa and Fred argued that the insured made a material misrepresentation in failing to include her adult resident son on her insurance application, so the policy did not provide coverage to the son who purportedly caused the death of the claimant. The Superior Court of Chatham County agreed, granting summary judgment in favor of our insurer client.

For informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in future cases.

Fred Valz and Melissa Bailey recently won a motion to dismiss for a client in a civil conspiracy case. The claimant alleged that our client assisted its insured in hiding assets that would have been subject to judgment. Finding that the claim against our client lacked legal or factual merit, the Superior Court of Ware County granted our client’s motion to dismiss.

For informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in future cases.

Fred Valz and Melissa Bailey recently won summary judgment in a declaratory judgment action involving homeowner’s and CGL policies in the Northern District of Georgia.  The underlying case involved allegations of sexual assault by a fellow patient at a dentist’s office.  We argued on behalf of the insurer client that an abuse and molestation exclusion operated to bar coverage for the dentist and his practice.  The court agreed, finding that the carrier owed no duties of defense, coverage, or indemnification in the tort litigation.

For informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in future cases.

Melissa Bailey recently won a motion to dismiss and a motion for reconsideration after oral arguments in the Superior Court of Paulding County.  Defense counsel argued on behalf of the insured that plaintiff failed to exercise due diligence in serving our client before the statute of limitations expired.  They also argued the trial court’s prior order, finding the amended complaint added a new party, should not relate back as the plaintiff failed to show the new party had notice of the suit within the statute of limitations.  The trial court determined that plaintiff did not carry her burden showing she acted in a reasonable and diligent manner in attempting service.  The trial court also granted the motion for reconsideration and dismissed the complaint.

For informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in future cases.

Melissa Bailey recently obtained a complete dismissal of two plaintiffs’ complaint as a discovery sanction.  After the plaintiffs failed to timely respond to numerous sets of written discovery, we moved to dismiss the case in its entirety on the basis of failure to prosecute.  The plaintiff failed to provide an adequate explanation for the failures.  The State Court of Douglas County granted the motion to dismiss, resulting in a complete dismissal of plaintiff’s complaint.  Because the plaintiffs had filed a prior dismissal, it resulted in any future re-litigation of the issues being foreclosed.

For informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in future cases.

Melissa Bailey and Fred Valz won summary judgment on behalf of their insurer client in a declaratory judgment action.  On behalf of the carrier, we argued that no coverage was afforded because the subject vehicle had been sold to the insured’s roommate at the time of the accident.  The opposing parties argued that a question of fact remained as to the timeline for the execution of the bill of sale.  Granting summary judgment in favor of our carrier client, the Gwinnett County Superior Court ruled that the new owner’s possession of the vehicle with no intention of returning it to the insured was dispositive of the issue that the sale had occurred prior to the accident.  For that reason, summary judgment was appropriate.

For informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in future cases.

Fred Valz and Melissa Bailey were successful in upholding a defense verdict in the Georgia Court of Appeals.  The plaintiff-appellant argued that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence because the defendant admitted in her answer that she had violated a legal duty.  At trial, the defendant-appellee explained that she was turning in to a gas station exit lane at the time of the accident, but she denied having made an improper left turn in front of the plaintiff.  After the DeKalb County jury returned a defense verdict, the plaintiff appealed.  Affirming the trial court’s denial of the motion for new trial and upholding the verdict, the Court of Appeals determined that the defendant’s admission of playing a role in the collision did not foreclose the jury determining that the plaintiff’s contributory negligence prohibited her recovery.

For informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in future cases.

Melissa Bailey and Fred Valz recently won summary judgment for a non-emergency transportation broker.  The complaint alleged that our client acted as a carrier rather than a broker, making our client vicariously liable for the motor vehicle accident that resulted in the loss of the plaintiff’s leg.  We argued that our client was a broker, not a carrier, and therefore had no legal liability for the alleged negligence of the driver.  The State Court of Clayton County agreed, holding that our client did not maintain the requisite level of control over the driver or her employer to impose vicarious liability, resulting in a full grant of summary judgment for our client.

For informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in future cases.

Fred Valz and Melissa Bailey recently obtained a complete dismissal of bad faith and breach of contract claim alleging seven figures in damages.  Litigated in the Middle District of Georgia, the suit alleged the commercial insurer acted in bad faith and breached the policy in three distinct ways in handling a first-party claim for damage to a medical facility.  After successfully bifurcating the bad faith and breach of contract claims, Melissa and Fred argued that the three breach of contract claims failed on their merits.  The District Court agreed, granting summary judgment on all three breach of contract claims.  After disposing of the breach of contract claims, the Court ruled that the bad faith claim could not survive in the absence of a breach of a policy obligation by the carrier.  Given that, it also failed as a matter of law, resulting in the complete dismissal of the lawsuit.

For informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in future cases.

Melissa Bailey and Fred Valz won summary judgment in a case alleging property damage as a result of a fallen tree.  We argued that the property owner was not liable for the damage caused by the fallen tree because there was insufficient evidence that the tree was patently diseased prior to it falling down.  The plaintiff argued that she had warned our business-owner client that she believed the tree was diseased several months prior.  Granting our motion for summary judgment, the trial court held that the plaintiff had failed to carry her burden of proving patent damage to the tree, and summary judgment was appropriate in favor of our landowner client.

For informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in future cases.

Melissa Bailey secured the dismissal of multiple bad faith claims filed against a homeowner’s insurance carrier.  Melissa and the CSVL general liability team argued that the civil actions, brought by a public adjuster via assignment from the policyholder, violated the policy’s non-assignment clause and was invalid.  In the absence of a valid assignment, the public adjuster lacked standing to bring the suits.  The Gwinnett County court agreed and dismissed the suits.

For informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in future cases.

Melissa Bailey recently won a motion to dismiss a UM carrier from litigation in the State Court of DeKalb County.  Melissa argued on behalf of the UM carrier that service outside of the statute of limitations was inappropriate despite the plaintiff’s claim that the service complied with the statute because it learned of the availability of UM funds after the statute had run.  The trial court determined that the plaintiff had failed to exercise the requisite diligence in uncovering coverage and perfecting service prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations and dismissed the UM carrier.

For informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in future cases.

Melissa Bailey and Fred Valz obtained summary judgment in a declaratory judgment action on the basis of the policy’s auto business exclusion.  The evidence showed that, at the time of the accident, it was being driven by a mechanic who was returning the vehicle to its owner after completing repairs.  Because the driver was in possession of the vehicle for the sole purpose of repairing it, we argued that coverage was afforded for the underlying tort action because the claims arose out of the use of a vehicle in furtherance of an auto business.  The Superior Court of Fulton County agreed, ruling that our client had no duty to provide a defense, coverage, or indemnity in the tort action.

For informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in future cases.

Melissa Bailey and Fred Valz won summary judgment on a premises liability claim for their restaurant client.  The plaintiff claimed that he slipped and fell on defective anti-skid strips on the restaurant’s entryway ramp.  The Superior Court of Cobb County ruled that plaintiff failed to show the existence of a hazardous condition and also failed to prove the restaurant’s knowledge of the alleged hazard posed by the strips.  Since the premises liability claim failed on the merits, so did the claims for negligent hiring and retention, resulting in a complete dismissal of the lawsuit.

For informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in future cases.

Fred Valz and Melissa Bailey won summary judgment in the Northern District of Georgia on behalf of their insurance carrier client.  We argued on behalf of the carrier that no coverage was afforded under the commercial policy because the driver did not meet the policy definition of an insured person.  The Court agreed, holding that the driver’s use of a personal vehicle took him outside the policy definition of an insured person.  As a result, the insurer had no duty to provide a defense, coverage, or indemnity to the insured or his employer for the tort suit.

For informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in future cases.

Copeland, Stair, Valz & Lovell's Annual Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Seminar was held on Thursday September 12, 2019.  Located at the beautiful Atlanta Botanical Gardens, this two-track format addressed the emerging issues that keep you up at night.  Some session topics included: the rise in tort litigation, putting together the pieces of the wrongful death case, effective use of recorded statements and the material misrepresentation defense, liability exposure in the age of active shooters and the impact bias has on case evaluation and jury deliberations. For more information on this seminar, please contact Michelle Mattox.

Several CSVL Attorneys attended the four (4) day 2019 The CLM Claims College located in Baltimore, MD.  Angela Kopet returned to the Faculty in the School of Casualty and to the School of Leadership as a member of the Executive Committee.  Melissa Bailey, Angela Kopet and Kathy Carlsten attended the THEMIS dinner following the college. The CLM Claims College features more than 80 collaborative educational sessions and keynote presentations designed by industry professionals to help attendees gain the knowledge they need to be on the forefront of the industry. For more information on the CLM or Claims College, please click here.

Melissa Bailey, Will Farley and Andy Yoho attended the CLM Claims College held from September 5-8 at the Marriott Baltimore Waterfront (Conference Hotel), 700 Aliceanna Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202. Angela Kopet was asked to return as a faculty member for the Claims College's School of Casualty Claims, Angela taught Level 2: Case Resolution: Development of a Negotiation Strategy. In addition, Angela was named to the CLM's Executive Council for the School of Leadership for 2018, one of four positions supervising courses within the the Claims College School of Leadership. The CLM Claims College features more than 80 collaborative educational sessions and keynote presentations designed by industry professionals to help attendees gain the knowledge they need to be on the forefront of the industry. For more information on CLM or Claims College, click here.

Angela Kopet was named to the CLM 2017 Claims College faculty, which Carlock Copeland sponsored. Claims and Litigation Management Alliance's (CLM) 2017 Claims College was in Baltimore, MD, September 6-9, 2017.  Angela taught in the School of Leadership - Leading Through Change & Adversity, on Friday September 8, 2017 and the School of Casualty Claims - Level 2: Case Resolution: Development of Negotiation Strategy, also on Friday September 8, 2017. Patrick Norris attended as our sponsor representative and Lee Weatherly was in attendance, as a member of CLM Claims College's Medical Malpractice and Health Care Sub-Committee. Melissa Bailey, Will Farley and Andy Yoho  all attended as students. The CLM Claims College features more than 80 collaborative educational sessions and keynote presentations designed by industry professionals to help attendees gain the knowledge they need to be on the forefront of the industry.             Pictured are Patrick Norris and Andy Yoho, both attorneys in our Charleston office, at the Carlock Copeland sponsor table.

Carlock, Copeland & Stair hosted their annual Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith Seminar on August 24 at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Presentations and Presenters: Have Traditional Rules Gone Up in Smoke?  Impact of Growing Legalization of Medical Marijuana - Dave Root and Abby Grozine. Best Practices for Maintaining Your Claims File - Ryan Wilhelm, Jennifer Guerra, and Claire Sumner. Defending the Institutional Bad Faith Claim - Charlie McDaniel and Kathy Carlsten. New Technology, Old Policies:  Are Aging Policies Equipped to Handle the Consumer Technology Boom? - Fred Valz and Melissa Bailey. Apportionment:  Has It Gotten Insurers Where They Want To Go?  - Charlie McDaniel, Graham Thompson, and Kristen Thompson. Additional Insured Jeopardy - Alex Davis, Laura Paton, Sarah Wetmore, Sally Bright and Nick Stewart. Why the Involvement of a Tractor Trailer Escalates a Case - Gary Lovell. Risk-Averse Insurers and the New Juror:  Exploring Possible Links Between Fewer Trials, Millennial Jurors, and Seemingly Bigger Verdicts - Doug Smith and Lee Weatherly. Please contact Michelle Mattox at mmattox@csvl.law if you would like our attorneys to present in-house lunch & learn sessions or webinars.  

Melissa Bailey and Michael Manfredi attended the CLM Greater Atlanta 4th Annual Mardi Gras Event on March 7 at the Taylor Brawner House, 3182 Atlanta Road, Smyrna, GA 30080.

Melissa Bailey participated in the Trucking and Transportation Regulations, Liability and Litigation Conference at the National Business Institute on December 7.  

Carlock Copeland’s Annual Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Seminar for claims professionals serving Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee was held at the Atlanta Botanical Garden on September 15. Melissa Bailey, Jack Daniel, Alex Davis, Charlie McDaniel, David Root, Fred Valz, Lee Weatherly, Sarah Wetmore and Ryan Wilhelm presented. Topics included: • Litigating Coverage Issues Through Appeal • Construction Defect Coverage Issues • Rescinding Policies • Effective Denials and Reservation of Rights Letters • Interplay of Underwriting and Claims • Coverage Issues Involving Additional Insureds • Litigation Coverage Issues In Trucking Policies • Coverage Issues in a Sharing Economy Please contact Michelle Mattox at mmattox@csvl.law for more information.

Carlock, Copeland was proud to be a Gold Sponsor of the CLM 2016 Claims College, held at the Marriott Baltimore Waterfront from September 7 to 10. The CLM Claims College featured more than 80 collaborative educational sessions and keynote presentations designed by industry professionals to help attendees gain the knowledge they need to be on the forefront of the industry. Angela Kopet presented The Level II course for Case Resolution – Development of a Negotiation Strategy in the School of Casualty and Level II: Property Evaluation in the School of Property. Angela Kopet, Patrick Norris, Doug MacKelcan, and Melissa Bailey attended.

Copeland, Stair, Valz & Lovell, LLP is proud to announce that several of our lawyers have been selected for inclusion on the Georgia Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars® lists for 2020. Super Lawyers® recognizes attorneys who have distinguished themselves in their legal practice. Attorneys are chosen for this honor through a nomination process, peer review by practice area and independent research on candidates. The lengthy process identifies lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.  Meet our Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars®! Only five percent of attorneys in the state of Georgia are selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers® list. Our Super Lawyers® are: Wade K. Copeland Eric J. Frisch D. Gary Lovell, Jr. Rolfe M. Martin Charles M. McDaniel, Jr. William D.  Newcomb David F. Root Douglas W. Smith Kent T. Stair Fred M. Valz, III Rising Stars® list recognizes the top up-and-coming attorneys in the state – those who are 40 years old or younger, or those who have been practicing for 10 years or less. No more than 2.5 percent of eligible attorneys are named to the Rising Stars® list, here are ours in Atlanta: Melissa L. Bailey Stephen J. Cohen  

 

Copeland, Stair, Kingma & Lovell, LLP is pleased to announce six attorneys in our Atlanta office have been elevated to partner effective January 1, 2020.  We congratulate each of them for this achievement and couldn’t be prouder of the manner in which they have distinguished themselves, both in the courtroom and within the community.

  Melissa Bailey serves as the Chair of the CSVL Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Practice Group, as well as Co-Chair of the General Liability Practice Group. She represents her clients in complex trial and appellate litigation across Georgia and also advises clients in pre-suit matters. Prior to joining Copeland Stair, Melissa was an attorney with a litigation firm in Savannah where she practiced in the areas of municipal and county liability defense, commercial litigation, and legal malpractice defense. Melissa received her J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law and was inducted into the National Order of Barristers during graduation. In her third year of law school, she was one of only two students to argue in front of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as part of the Gray’s Inn exchange. Melissa was recently selected as Barrister of the Joseph Henry Lumpkin American Inn of Court. This esteemed title is given to only ten members a year that are in their first eight years of practice and possess the potential to move into the top echelon of the bar. Jay M. O’Brien’s practice focuses on catastrophic injury, premises liability and transportation litigation. His extensive litigation experience includes defending individuals, corporations and retailers in a variety of general liability matters, frequently handling from initial investigation through trial and appeal. Mr. O’Brien regularly practices in all state and appellate courts in Georgia and Florida and has been named to the Georgia Super Lawyers Rising Stars® every year since 2014. He earned his J.D. from Nova Southeastern School of Law graduating magna cum laude and was a member of both the Nova Law Review and Moot Court.  

Copeland Stair Valz & Lovell, LLP is proud to announce that several of our lawyers have been selected for inclusion on the Georgia Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars® lists for 2019. Super Lawyers recognizes attorneys who have distinguished themselves in their legal practice. Attorneys are chosen for this honor through a nomination process, peer review by practice area and independent research on candidates. The lengthy process identifies lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.  Meet our Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars®! Super Lawyers®, only five percent of attorneys in the state of Georgia are selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers list. Our Super Lawyers are: Wade K. Copeland Eric J. Frisch D. Gary Lovell, Jr. Rolfe M. Martin Jay M. O'Brien David F. Root Douglas W. Smith Kent T. Stair Fred M. Valz Rising Stars® list recognizes the top up-and-coming attorneys in the state – those who are 40 years old or younger, or those who have been practicing for 10 years or less. No more than 2.5 percent of eligible attorneys are named to the Rising Stars® list, here is ours in Atlanta: Melissa L. Bailey Please click here to read about our South Carolina Super Lawyers®  and Rising Stars®!

CSVL Partner Melissa Bailey is set to present at this years' The CLM Annual Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, August 11-13.  Melissa's presentation, Leveling the Bad-Faith Playing Field: How to Seek Discovery of Plaintiffs' Counsel's Privileged Communications and Work Product, will be on day 2 of the conference, Thursday, August 12th at 10:10 a.m. For more information on this presentation and others at The CLM Annual Conference, please click here.  

CSVL Partner Melissa Bailey will join I Love Insurance Club host Michael Young on Thursday, June 10 at 5:00 pm eastern / 4:00 pm central. Melissa's broadcast titled Bad Faith Without Notice of a Suit? will discuss a recent decision from the Georgia Supreme Court (GEICO vs. Whiteside) that held that a liability carrier could be liable in bad faith even though the insured did not provide the insurer with notice of the underlying lawsuit. Click here to register for I Love Insurance Club's broadcast on Clubhouse.

CSVL Partner Melissa Bailey joined in THEMIS Advocate Group's Thursday webinar series, presenting Reviewing Bad Faith Laws in the U.S. on Thursday, March 18, 2021. This webinar was designed to keep you up-to-date on the latest developments in bad faith across the country.  Topics discussed included changing legal standards, developing factual defenses and obtaining summary judgment in bad faith claims. For more information on THEMIS Thursday webinar series, please click here.

CSVL is a proud member of THEMIS Advocates Group and is pleased to offer you exciting learning opportunities with THEMIS! Our Partners Melissa Bailey and Broderick Harrell will join as panel, at the upcoming THEMIS program Virtual Mediation and the "New Normal," An Interactive Mock Mediation on January 28th. Click here for additional information and registration!  

Melissa Bailey, a frequent speaker at seminars and events, joined other industry professionals to present at The CLM 2019 New York Conference and Holiday Party this year.  On December 5, she and her fellow panelists debated and analyzed significant extra-contractual cases from 2019.  This interactive conference covered the latest in coverage litigation and strategies for approaching these types of exposures. For more information on The CLM or this conference, please click here.

Melissa Bailey and Fred Valz presented to seminar attendees factual and legal issues involved in a hypothetical wrongful death cause of action in a series of oral presentations.  Using an interactive format, Fred and Melissa were able to allow guests to participate in the evaluation and assessment of the exposure presented by the hypothetical case.  This gave attendees insight into how a case evolves from investigation to verdict, as well as into the decision-making process used by most juries.  Then attendees were able to use a web based application to provide the speakers with real-time responses to their series of questions.  This presentation provided participants with the understanding of the jury trial process and created a better foundation for future cause of action defense. For more information on the presentation or seminars, please contact Michelle Mattox.