Hayes Lemmerz International, Inc. v. ACE American Ins. Co.

In action seeking recovery of legal fees expended on behalf of plaintiff-insured pursuant to Workers' Compensation insurance policy issued by defendant, Dist. Ct. did not err in holding in favor of defendant based on finding that said requested fees were unreasonable. Insurance policy provided that defendant would only reimburse plaintiff for reasonable attorney fees incurred in defending itself in underlying lawsuit, and instant fee request was unreasonable where plaintiff could have been dismissed from underlying lawsuit at beginning phase of case, and where plaintiff sought amount that represented fees incurred after beginning stage of underlying lawsuit. Moreover, Ct. rejected plaintiff's contention that defendant had duty to advise plaintiff's law firm in underlying action that it was not defending plaintiff properly.