On August 11, 2009, the Fifth Circuit affirmed in a terse two-page opinion a $21. 6 million jury verdict in favor of a New Orleans grocer., including a $1 million bad faith award against United Fire & Casualty. Marketfare Annunciation, LLC v. United Fire and Casualty Co., No. 08-30795, 2009 WL 2447938 (5th Cir. Aug. 11, 2009). In order to get some sense of the case, it is necessary to consult the docket entries for the case in Pacer. There is less significance to this case than first appears. A review of the underlying Petition reveals that this was not a case in which the paradigmatic Katrina coverage issue of wind or flood was in play, but rather concerned a prosaic dispute over the adjustment of the loss, which was caused by the covered perils of wind and looting. No. 06-cv-07232 (E.D. La.).

We will have more to say about the state of play in Katrina litigation in later posts.