February
25, 2010
Recent Legislative Enactments
As of September 12, 2009, several bills that had been passed by the Legislature became law. These bills may have a substantial affect on evaluation of claims, claims practices and issues that eventually reach trial.
- 24-A M.R.S. § 2910-A precludes subrogation against an insured unless the insured was awarded or had settled damages that exceeded $20,000. Several plaintiffs’ firms have stated that this is retroactive for policies written prior to September 12, 2009. The Superintendent of Insurance, Mila Kofman, has recently issued Bulletin 371 that states that the new law only applies to policies issued or renewed on or after September 12, 2009.
- 24-A M.R.S. § 2164-E mandates disclosure of insurance policy limits to an injured party upon inquiry. Previously limits only needed to be revealed when there was ongoing litigation.
- 18-A M.R.S. § 2-804 raises the punitive damage limit to $250,000 and expands available pecuniary loss recovery in wrongful death actions.
- 18-A M.R.S. § 3-108 extends the statute of limitations for actions against the estate of a decedent from three to six years.
- 28-A M.R.S. § 2509 raises the cap on liquor liability damages from $250,000 to $350,000.
- 28-A M.R.S. § 2056(2) expands the automobile bicycle “3-foot rule” to cover car/pedestrian collisions.
If you have any questions about these changes or how they affect claims that you are working on, please do not hesitate to contact me at jbrogan@nhdlaw.com at any time.
Other Firm News
- September 01, 2010 Juror Removed From Trial After Facebook Post read article
- August 04, 2010 Summer 2010 Newsletter read article
- August 02, 2010 Ready Seafood Profiled in August Issue of Maine Ahead read article
