GoBuckeyes
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Why would they not give the Satterfield's some of the money?
SC - Gloria Satterfield, Murdaugh family housekeeper, 2018 Trip & Fall Insurance Fraud
- Thread starter Seattle1
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legalmomma
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DBM. Wrong thread
Countem
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Insurance company suspected Alex Murdaugh's plot to steal millions from housekeeper's estate
Alex Murdaugh's former insurer Nautilus filed a federal lawsuit saying it's owed damages because it paid out a bogus claim to the estate of Gloria Satterfield.
Fascinating article about the insurance side of things, which is still an ongoing trial. It is behind a paywall.
LetsSolvIt
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Dying to read this but . . . alas, a paywall :/Insurance company suspected Alex Murdaugh's plot to steal millions from housekeeper's estate
Alex Murdaugh's former insurer Nautilus filed a federal lawsuit saying it's owed damages because it paid out a bogus claim to the estate of Gloria Satterfield.www.postandcourier.com
Fascinating article about the insurance side of things, which is still an ongoing trial. It is behind a paywall.
Seattle1
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Here we go:
www.postandcourier.com
June 28, 2024
Several years before Alex Murdaugh was criminally charged with stealing millions from the estate of his family's ex-housekeeper, a group of lawyers and insurance agents sensed something was afoot.
[..]
Murdaugh, 56, went around his tiny hometown of Hampton telling people how guilty he felt. One of his family's dogs caused Satterfield to fall, he said.
Those working on the insurance case asked Murdaugh to stop admitting fault. Satterfield's medical records didn't suggest the dogs contributed to her death, they said; perhaps the wrongful death claim could be avoided.
And they were acutely aware of the stakes of a case involving Murdaugh. His insurance company refused to use a mediator — part of settlement negotiations — in Beaufort or Hampton, citing Murdaugh's prominence in the close-knit community.
"There is no way we would get a neutral mediator in that venue," the insurance agent wrote in an email dated Jan. 10, 2019.
[..]
A Nautilus insurance agent, its attorney and a Columbia-brd lawyer hired to defend Murdaugh against the claim each sounded alarms in early 2019. Their qualms were disclosed in recent federal court documents, as well as in emails obtained by The Post and Courier.
One attorney called it the "worst case (of) insurance fraud and injustice I have ever heard of."
"I wish there was a way to prove it," the agent responded in a March 24, 2019, email.
[..]
Nautilus filed a lawsuit in April 2022 contending the company is owed damages from Murdaugh and others because it paid out a bogus claim. Despite being suspicious of the claim, Nautilus had no way of knowing it was fraudulent, its lawyers argued in the suit.
[..]
U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel issued a June 18 order that effectively narrowed the scope of the case, deciding Nautilus has no factual basis for some of its allegations. A lawyer for Nautilus declined to comment on Gergel's order.
[..]
Nautilus and the defendants all filed motions for summary judgment, asking Gergel — the judge tasked with overseeing the suit — to rule in their favor on different facts, thereby avoiding a trial and releasing them from liability in the case. (Murdaugh elected to default in the suit.)
[..]
The judge ultimately found that Nautilus has no factual basis for bringing any of its claims against Westendorf or Palmetto Sate Bank. Westendorf's lawyers declined to comment. Attorneys representing the bank did not immediately respond.
Gergel did not say the same for Fleming or Moss & Kuhn. Efforts to reach Fleming's attorney were unsuccessful. A lawyer representing Moss & Kuhn declined to comment.
If the suit ends up going to trial, jurors must decide whether the law firm can be held liable for Fleming's acts as an employee. They'll have to determine whether Fleming knew about Murdaugh's phony insurance claim, for instance, and if the ex-lawyer breached his fiduciary duties to Nautilus.
ETA: PDF link for a June 18, 2024, order from U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel in Nautilus' case against Alex Murdaugh and others part of the article but the link no longer works -- the dreaded 404 error results. No problem, I found another source for the link -- see below:
Insurance company suspected Alex Murdaugh's plot to steal millions from housekeeper's estate
Alex Murdaugh's former insurer Nautilus filed a federal lawsuit saying it's owed damages because it paid out a bogus claim to the estate of Gloria Satterfield.
June 28, 2024
Several years before Alex Murdaugh was criminally charged with stealing millions from the estate of his family's ex-housekeeper, a group of lawyers and insurance agents sensed something was afoot.
[..]
Murdaugh, 56, went around his tiny hometown of Hampton telling people how guilty he felt. One of his family's dogs caused Satterfield to fall, he said.
Those working on the insurance case asked Murdaugh to stop admitting fault. Satterfield's medical records didn't suggest the dogs contributed to her death, they said; perhaps the wrongful death claim could be avoided.
And they were acutely aware of the stakes of a case involving Murdaugh. His insurance company refused to use a mediator — part of settlement negotiations — in Beaufort or Hampton, citing Murdaugh's prominence in the close-knit community.
"There is no way we would get a neutral mediator in that venue," the insurance agent wrote in an email dated Jan. 10, 2019.
[..]
A Nautilus insurance agent, its attorney and a Columbia-brd lawyer hired to defend Murdaugh against the claim each sounded alarms in early 2019. Their qualms were disclosed in recent federal court documents, as well as in emails obtained by The Post and Courier.
One attorney called it the "worst case (of) insurance fraud and injustice I have ever heard of."
"I wish there was a way to prove it," the agent responded in a March 24, 2019, email.
[..]
Nautilus filed a lawsuit in April 2022 contending the company is owed damages from Murdaugh and others because it paid out a bogus claim. Despite being suspicious of the claim, Nautilus had no way of knowing it was fraudulent, its lawyers argued in the suit.
[..]
U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel issued a June 18 order that effectively narrowed the scope of the case, deciding Nautilus has no factual basis for some of its allegations. A lawyer for Nautilus declined to comment on Gergel's order.
[..]
Pending suit in federal court
Nautilus' federal lawsuit names Fleming, Murdaugh, Westendorf, Palmetto State Bank and Moss & Kuhn, Fleming's former law firm.Nautilus and the defendants all filed motions for summary judgment, asking Gergel — the judge tasked with overseeing the suit — to rule in their favor on different facts, thereby avoiding a trial and releasing them from liability in the case. (Murdaugh elected to default in the suit.)
[..]
The judge ultimately found that Nautilus has no factual basis for bringing any of its claims against Westendorf or Palmetto Sate Bank. Westendorf's lawyers declined to comment. Attorneys representing the bank did not immediately respond.
Gergel did not say the same for Fleming or Moss & Kuhn. Efforts to reach Fleming's attorney were unsuccessful. A lawyer representing Moss & Kuhn declined to comment.
If the suit ends up going to trial, jurors must decide whether the law firm can be held liable for Fleming's acts as an employee. They'll have to determine whether Fleming knew about Murdaugh's phony insurance claim, for instance, and if the ex-lawyer breached his fiduciary duties to Nautilus.
ETA: PDF link for a June 18, 2024, order from U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel in Nautilus' case against Alex Murdaugh and others part of the article but the link no longer works -- the dreaded 404 error results. No problem, I found another source for the link -- see below:
Nautilus Ins. Co. v. Murdaugh, 2:22-1307-RMG | Casetext Search + Citator
Read Nautilus Ins. Co. v. Murdaugh, 2:22-1307-RMG, see flags on bad law, and search Casetext’s comprehensive legal database
casetext.com