In Waldrup v. Countrywide Financial Corp., Case Nos. 2:13-cv-08833-CAS (AGRx) and 2:16-cv-04166-CAS (AGRx), 2018 WL 799156 (C.D. Cal. February 6, 2018) (Snyder, USMJ), a ruling partially reported in [REDACTED] CIVIL MINUTES - GENERAL, even the experts' reports were redacted, meaning blacked out so that the public could not see them. Totally. All their testimony. Not even a smidgen left behind for just anyone to see, including the public that pays for the courts. Parenthetically, that did not stop the Court from granting the plaintiffs' joint motion for class certification in that case.
This practice stands out as cautionary authority for keeping quiet any expert testimony and expert reports on file in insurance cases. That includes of course cases revolving around unfair claims practices allegations, insurer bad faith claims, and even coverage where expert testimony is allowed.
Nice work if you can get it, as they say. Commit the crime, do the deed, and then skip the apology step that is the favorite go-to in 2018, and just cover it up. Courts following this case will have your back.
But at least they will avoid embarrassment that way. Some seem to hold the view that that is what courts were made for.
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Dennis Wall is at work on a book that will reveal how concealed evidence and secret settlements take our money, foreclose on our homes, and affect our lives. It will be his fifth book.
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