Ehrlich Law Firm wins affirmance of punitive-damages award against Mercury Insurance Co. in bad-faith case. Mercury Insurance Co. took over two years to process and pay the straightforward business-loss case of Amerigraphics Company, a commercial printer in the San Fernando Valley, whose premises were flooded when a pipe broke in the building they leased. A jury found that Mercury acted in bad faith and awarded punitive damages. The Court of Appeal affirmed, holding that the company’s business-interruption coverage applied to the business’s fixed costs, even if the business was not making a profit, and finding that Mercury’s conduct was tortious and warranted an award of punitive damages. (Amerigraphics v. Mercury Ins. Co. (2010) 182 Cal.App.4th 1538.)

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