Free Proposed Jury Instructions - District Court of Arizona - Arizona

Claims and Elements I will give you detailed instructions of law later in these instructions. But I will now give you a statement of each claim in the case, and a statement of what has to be proved on each claim. Plaintiff claims that defendant breached a contract. On this claim, plaintiff must prove there was a contract with defendant and defendant breached the contract.

SOURCE: RAJI (CIVIL) 3d, Contract 2

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Measure of Direct Damages - Breach of Contract If you find that defendant is liable to plaintiff for breach of contract, you must then decide the full amount of money that will reasonably and fairly compensate plaintiff for the damages proved by the evidence to have resulted naturally and directly from the breach of contract. The damages you award for breach of contract must be the amount of money that will place plaintiff in the position plaintiff would have been in if the contract had been performed.

SOURCE: RAJI (CIVIL) 3d, Contract 17

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Duty of Good Faith and Fair Dealing There is an implied duty of good faith and fair dealing in every insurance policy. Plaintiff claims that defendant breached this duty. To prove that defendant breached the duty of good faith and fair dealing, plaintiff must prove: (1) Defendant intentionally [denied the claim] [failed to pay the claim] [delayed payment of the claim] without a reasonable basis for such action; and Defendant knew that it acted without a reasonable basis, or defendant failed to perform an investigation or evaluation adequate to determine whether its action was supported by a reasonable basis.

(2)

SOURCE: RAJI (CIVIL) 3d, Bad Faith 1 (First - Party)

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Adequacy of Investigation In all aspects of investigating or evaluating a claim, defendant is required to give as much consideration to plaintiff's interests as it does to its own interests.

SOURCE: RAJI (CIVIL) 3d, Bad Faith 2 (First - Party)

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Definition of Intentional To prove that defendant acted intentionally [on the bad faith claim], plaintiff must prove that defendant intended its conduct, but plaintiff does not need to prove that defendant intended to cause injury. Defendant's conduct is not intentional if it is inadvertent or due to mistake.

SOURCE: RAJI (CIVIL) 3d, Bad Faith 3 (First - Party)

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Causation Before you can find defendant liable on the bad faith claim, you must find that defendant's breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing was a cause of plaintiff's damages. A breach of duty is a cause of damages if it helps produce the damages, and if the damages would not have occurred without the breach.

SOURCE: RAJI (CIVIL) 3d, Bad Faith 4 (First - Party)

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Plaintiff's Burden of Proof (Bad Faith) On the bad faith claim, plaintiff must prove: (1) (2) (3) Defendant breached the duty of good faith and fair dealing; Defendant's breach was a cause of plaintiff's damages; and The amount of plaintiff's damages.

SOURCE: RAJI (CIVIL) 3d, Bad Faith 5 (First - Party)

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Statement of Liability Issues If you find that defendant did not breach the duty of good faith and fair dealing, then your verdict on the bad faith claim must be for defendant, even if you find that defendant incorrectly denied or delayed payment of plaintiffs' claim benefits. If you find that defendant did breach the duty of good faith and fair dealing and that defendant's breach was a cause of plaintiff's damages, then your verdict on the bad faith claims must be for plaintiff.

SOURCE: RAJI (CIVIL) 3d, Bad Faith 6 (First - Party)

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Measure of Damages If you find that defendant is liable to plaintiff [on the bad faith claim], you must then decide the full amount of money that will reasonably and fairly compensate plaintiff for each of the following elements of damage proved by the evidence to have resulted from defendant's breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing. (1) (2) The unpaid benefits of the policy; Monetary loss experienced and reasonably probable to be experienced in the future; and Emotional distress, humiliation, inconvenience, and anxiety experienced, and reasonably probable to be experienced in the future.

(3)

SOURCE: RAJI (CIVIL) 3d, Bad Faith 7 (First - Party)

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