Judge Shuts Down Insurer's Attempt to Recoup Millions Defending and Settling Case

Judge Richard Story, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. (File photo)

The Georgia federal judge overseeing a convoluted insurance wrangle that emerged after a car-wreck case settled for $11 million last year has turned down efforts by American Family Insurance to recoup the money it spent defending the underlying case and paying the settlement from its onetime insured. 

Judge Richard Story of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia ruled that AmFam’s decision to  defend the case—which first resulted in a jury verdict of $30 million that was overturned on appeal—and pay the settlement means it cannot recover the costs for either.