$400,000 Jury Verdict in Life Insurance Trial

February 2014

The firm successfully obtained a jury verdict in favor of family members and against a non-family member for the proceeds of a life insurance policy and a claim for intentional interference with a business relation. The firm’s client was the aunt and closest living relative of the deceased. She was the beneficiary of the deceased’s $250,000.00 life insurance policy. The defendant was a friend of the deceased and claimed that prior to his death the deceased executed a change of beneficiary form making him the beneficiary of the life insurance policy. The firm’s client contended that the change of beneficiary form was a forgery and that the execution of the form constituted intentional interference with a business relation. After a five day trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the firm’s client and awarded her the $250,000.00 life insurance benefits, plus $75,000.00 in compensatory damages and $75,000.00 in punitive damages for intentional interference with a business relation.