Henley
Henley v. Safeco Insurance Company of America
Opinion
Trial Court Opinion
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 EVA JO HENLEY, et al., Case No. 21-cv-04243-RS (AGT)
Plaintiffs,
DISCOVERY ORDER
v. 9 Re: Dkt. No. 27 SAFECO INSURANCE COMPANY OF
AMERICA,
11 Defendant.
12 In this breach of contract and tort action for wrongful denial of insurance policy benefits, defendant Safeco Insurance Company of America requests an order compelling plaintiff Eva Jo Henley to produce unredacted copies of her fee agreement with counsel and related billing records. Dkt. 27. Safeco contends that plaintiff put the requested documents directly at issue and waived any claim of privilege by seeking attorneys’ fees under Brandt v. Superior Court, 37 Cal. 3d 813 (1985), as part of her claimed tort damages. The Court agrees. Under Brandt, attorneys’ fees reasonably incurred to compel payment of insurance policy benefits are recoverable as an element of tort damages if the insured proves bad faith. Id. at 819. The fees recoverable “may not exceed the amount attributable to the attorney’s efforts to obtain…