Philip Stratman Missouri Cases

Philip Stratman appealed the trial court's judgment applying Kansas law to his cross-claim against Allstate Fire & Casualty Insurance Company for bad faith refusal to settle, and granting judgment on the pleadings and summary judgment in favor of Allstate. The appellate court reversed, holding that the insurance policy's choice-of-law provision for covered losses outside Kansas applied to Stratman's bad faith claim. The court further determined that a bad faith refusal to settle claim is a tort, requiring a Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws § 145 analysis, and found that genuine issues of material fact precluded summary judgment under this analysis. The case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with the opinion.

Philip Stratman appealed a partial judgment from the Jackson County Circuit Court, which found that non-economic damages are not recoverable for the tort of bad faith failure to settle. The trial court had certified the judgment for immediate appeal under Rule 74.01(b). The Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, dismissed the appeal for lack of final judgment, holding that the partial judgment did not dispose of a "judicial unit" of claims as required by Rule 74.01(b) and Section 512.020(5), RSMo.