This is a very good post on the implications of a defense lawyer attempting to bifurcate a tort case into separate decisions on liability and damages, but as I was reading it, my thought, not knowing the law of Maryland in any great detail, was that bifurcating the case does not necessarily remove the potential third-party bad faith claim against the insurer if an excess verdict is returned. I see one of the commenters said the same thing.
I stumbled across this blog post discussing the Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog. You comment is exactly correct. Two Maryland lawyers called me and made exactly the same point. Still, I think anytime a policy limit is offered before a jury verdict, it hurts – at least somewhat – you bad faith claim.
Thanks for reading. You have a great blog.
Ron Miller
http://www.marylandinjurylawyerblog.com