American General Life and Accident Insurance Company v. Johnson

Filing 23

ORDER clarifying an issue in 22 Order filed 4/7/2011. Ordered by Judge Hugh Lawson on 4/7/2011. (nbp)

American General Life and Accident Insurance Company v. Johnson

Doc. 23

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA VALDOSTA DIVISION AMERICAN GENERAL LIFE AND ACCIDENT INSURANCE COMPANY, Plaintiff, v. BETTY R. JOHNSON, Defendant. ORDER This is an addendum to the Order (Doc. 22) entered on April 7, 2011 granting Defendant's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 12). In the original Order, the Court stated that American General had not provided any evidence to establish a dollar amount for reasonable attorney's fees that would be incurred by Ms. Johnson in litigating her claim. That is incorrect. American General did provide an affidavit from an attorney who stated that it is his opinion that the minimum amount of attorney's fees that would be incurred by Ms. Johnson in the prosecution of her claim is $35,250. Even taking that into consideration, however, the Court still finds that dismissal of the complaint is warranted. As the Court stated in its original Order, to find that American General has met the amount in controversy for diversity purposes, it would have to assume that Ms. Johnson would be awarded bad faith damages, which is a very difficult burden for her to carry, and that she would be awarded attorney's fees, which are not statutory, but are for a jury to decide. The Court will not speculate as Civil Action 7:10-CV-136 (HL)

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to what a jury may or may not award in this case. The Court's previous Order stands, and the Motion to Dismiss is granted. SO ORDERED, this 7 th day of April, 2011.

s/ Hugh Lawson HUGH LAWSON, SENIOR JUDGE mbh