Monday, December 1, 2014

A Client’s Attorney Cannot Serve As The Appraiser Where The Policy Requires Appraiser To Be "Disinterested"

Originally published by .


Where an insurance policy requires parties’ appraisers to be “disinterested,” do you think their attorney can serve as their appraiser? Not according to a recent opinion from Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeal.1

Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (“FIGA”) appealed a trial court order compelling appraisal for the policyholders in a dispute over damages in a sinkhole loss. The case on appeal involved, in part, whether the policyholders selected an appraiser that could serve as their appraiser. The trial court had ordered the claim to appraisal and allowed the policyholders to have their attorney act as their appraiser.


In a short opinion, the appellate court essentially said the claim can proceed to appraisal, but the policyholders cannot have their attorney act as their appraiser.


The Court held that:


Given the duty of loyalty owed by an attorney to a client, we conclude that attorneys may not serve as their clients’ arbitrators or…


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Curated by Texas Bar Today. Follow us on Twitter @texasbartoday.






from Texas Bar Today http://ift.tt/1A7R7Fh

via Abogado Aly Website

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