As a testament to his legal expertise in the area of personal injury and tort cases, Guidant attorney Sam Saks was recently part of the legal team arguing a case before the Arizona Supreme Court that vindicated an injured party’s right to get the full benefit of their insurance coverages.
In Franklin v. CSAA General Insurance Company, the Plaintiff had made an underinsured motorist (UIM) claim to Defendant CSAA General Insurance Company (“CSAA”) on behalf of losing her mother in an auto accident with a tortfeasor. Her mother had been issued a policy that provided UIM coverage of $50,000 per person. Since her mother had a second policy providing a separate, second UIM coverage for the second vehicle, Franklin had made an additional claim to “stack” that CSAA had denied. The statute’s text was ambiguous, but implied multi-vehicle policies provided separate UIM coverages for each vehicle.
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled in favor of Franklin, citing that they emphasize the statutory requirement that, to prevent stacking, insurers must include in the policy unambiguous language plainly disavowing the possibility of stacking. Because of this decision, many injured clients will receive extra benefits for their coverage in the case of incidents involving underinsured motorists.
A respected member of the legal community who has successfully secured millions in settlements for his commercial and personal injury law clients, Sam is also a certified arbitrator for Maricopa County Superior Court and also serves on the board of Arizona Foundation of Legal Services and Education.