On Friday a Jackson County Circuit Court jury rendered a $1.56 verdict in Minor v. USAA. The plaintiff was the Estate of Sylvia Minor, who was the wife of former Biloxi lawyer Paul Minor. The case was a Hurricane Katrina wind vs. water dispute.
Here is the Sun Herald article on the verdict. From the article:
The jury found USAA failed to prove Katrina’s storm surge destroyed the Minor home and outbuildings, said Minor attorney Chuck McRae. The historic East Beach home was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
Katrina destroyed all but a bedroom wing and the garage. The Mississippi Supreme Court clarified insurance law regarding wind and water damage in an earlier policyholders’ lawsuit, also filed against USAA.
Under an all-perils policy with an exclusion for flood damage, the policyholder must prove only that a hurricane caused the property loss. In order to deny coverage for structural damage, the insurance company must then prove storm surge, considered a form of flooding, caused the loss rather than covered wind.
Attorneys McRae and Oliver Diaz Jr., both state Supreme Court judges before the Katrina case was considered, argued USAA failed to prove its exclusion. Expert witnesses for the Minors testified a tornado destroyed the house before the surge washed ashore.
As mentioned in the quote, former Supreme Court Justices Chuck McRae and Oliver Diaz of Jackson represented Minor’s estate.
Greg Copeland with Copeland Cook in Ridgeland represented USAA.