The Mississippi Supreme Court held that the insurer must produce written communications from and make available for deposition the in-house counsel who orchestrated the denial of coverage. Travelers Pro. Cas. Co. of Am. v. 100 Renaissance, LLC, 2020 Miss. LEXIS 409 (Miss. Oct. 29, 2020).
An unidentified driver struck a flagpole owned by the insured Renaissance, causing $2,134 in damages. Renaissance filed a claim with Travelers for uninsured-motorist coverage. The Travelers' claims handler, Charlene Duncan, determined there was no coverage because the flagpole was not a covered auto. Before corresponding with the insured, Duncan sought legal advice from Travelers' in-house counsel, Jim Harris.
Renaissance sued Travelers for coverage and bad faith. Renaissance then took Duncan's deposition and asked that she explain both the denial letter and the reasons Travelers denied the claim. Duncan repeatedly said she did not know the basis of the denial and that she had consulted with Harris.
Travelers later paid for the damage to the flagpole, but Renaissance continue to litigate its bad faith claim. Travelers moved for summary judgment. Renaissance asked for a continuance to conduct additional discovery, including the production of emails between Duncan and Harris and the deposition of Harris. The court ordered that the emails be produced for in camera review. The court then found that Travelers had waived the attorney-client privilege as it related to Harris. The court ordered that the emails be produced and Harris be deposed. Travelers filed an interlocutory appeal.
The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed. The attorney-client privilege did not apply. Although Duncan signed the denial letter, it was prepared by someone else, most likely Harris. If so, Harris did not act as legal counsel by giving advice to Duncan to include in the denial letter. Instead, the denial letter contained Harris's reasons to deny the claim.
Travelers was ordered to produce the written communications between Duncan and Harris and to produce Harris for a deposition to discover his knowledge about Travelers' basis for denial of the claim.