Hartford Life & Accident Insurance Co. has been ordered to pay close to $200,000 in attorneys’ fees and associated costs. This ruling follows a confidential settlement reached in a life insurance dispute concerning the death of a Long Island art teacher.
During oral arguments, Hartford acknowledged that they were unable to refute the fact that the plaintiffs had achieved a degree of success in their lawsuit. Judge John G. Koeltl, presiding in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, stated that this degree of success was sufficient to warrant the allocation of attorneys’ fees under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
