Lawyers settle Katrina cases vs. State Farm
Two Mississippi attorneys who won a punitive damages verdict against State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. over destruction from Hurricane Katrina said Friday that they had settled other pending cases.
Biloxi attorney Jack Denton said he and attorney William C. Walker Jr. settled 20 State Farm cases Friday. Two of the lawsuits were scheduled for trial this month in federal court. Terms of the settlements are confidential.
“We finally got a little relief,” Denton told the Sun Herald newspaper.
“What it indicates to me is that we have finally reached some middle ground with State Farm that has created a basis on which we can settle our State Farm cases,” he said.
State Farm spokesman Fraser Engerman said: “We are pleased we were to resolve this without costly and lengthy litigation, which is in the best interest of all parties.”
Denton said that he and Walker would continue to take State Farm cases and hoped they would be settled without a trial too. Cases against Nationwide, USAA and Allstate are pending.
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