Judge orders mediation in Katrina suits

Judge orders mediation in Katrina suits

	Published : Thu, 11 Jan 2007 00:03 By : Agencies Print this Story

GULFPORT, Miss. (AFX) - A federal judge on Wednesday ordered into mediation dozens of lawsuits that policyholders filed against insurance companies after Hurricane Katrina, even as a jury prepares to decide another case on trial this week in the same judge's courtroom.

Several of the cases sent to mediation by U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr., are involved in recent settlement talks between State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood and policyholders' lawyers.

The trial that Senter is presiding over this week isn't part of the settlement talks. The timing of his order appeared to be a coincidence.

Lawsuits filed against State Farm on behalf of Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., are among the cases that Senter ordered into mediation Wednesday. Katrina destroyed Lott's home in Pascagoula and Taylor's home in Bay St. Louis. Each sued State Farm for denying their claims.

Before this week, Senter had ordered mediation for dozens of other Katrina insurance suits. Of 55 cases that have been heard by a mediator, 28 have resulted in settlements, according to Senter's office.

The latest batch of mediation cases are scheduled to be heard in February and March.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, State Farm's expert witnesses told a jury of four men and four women that no evidence supports the claim of policyholders Norman and Genevieve Broussard that a tornado during the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane destroyed their Biloxi home.

Testimony opened Tuesday with emotional testimony from Norman Broussard. The case was expected to go to the jury on Thursday.

Hundreds of Mississippi homeowners have sued State Farm and other insurers for refusing to cover billions of dollars in damage from Katrina's storm surge.

Insurers say their homeowner policies cover damage from wind but not from water, and that the policies exclude damage that could have been caused by a combination of both, even if hurricane-force winds preceded a storm's rising water.

Robert Dean, a civil engineer and FEMA consultant, testified for State Farm. He said he surveyed Katrina's damage on the Mississippi coast and concluded that storm surge demolished the Broussards' home.

Kirk Gurley, a civil engineer and expert in wind damage, said Katrina's winds were not strong enough to destroy the Broussards' home. He attributed the damage to storm surge that arrived before the peak winds.

People with direct knowledge of the settlement talks told The Associated Press this week that State Farm, Mississippi's largest home insurer, is considering paying hundreds of millions of dollars to settle more than 600 lawsuits and resolve thousands of other disputed claims.

A mass settlement would be the first of its kind to follow the wave of litigation spawned by Katrina.

State Farm, Hood and plaintiffs' lawyers are nearing an agreement that calls for the insurer to pay at least $50 million -- but possibly hundreds of millions more -- to roughly 35,000 policyholders who haven't sued the company for denying their claim, people with knowledge of the talks said.

A Mississippi settlement would not involve any claims filed by State Farm policyholders in other states.

(Associated Press writer Michael Kunzelman contributed to this report.)