INSURANCE: Bad faith “fishing expedition that yielded no catch”… insurer delivered $4 million policy limits to Plaintiff’s attorney and 6 others to settle prior case against CPA firm… Plaintiff not informed that others would share in settlement, now sues insurer for bad faith failure to timely settle, leverage her into global settlement… Plaintiff’s counsel disqualified so she could testify as necessary witness to facts in prior case, co-counsel took over case, moved to disqualify insurer’s counsel… discovery violations and other bad faith by Plaintiff’s counsel… Judge recusal based on alleged bias against Plaintiff’s counsel and reliance on “extrajudicial source” (private practice experience) and outdated understanding of the law denied… summary judgment for insurer on bad faith claims… insurer awarded $107,868 fees/costs payable by Plaintiff’s counsel for retaliatory motion to disqualify Defendants’ counsel and expenses incurred by Defendants in compelling additional discovery… 104-page order… Lovell. [Read more…]