Cooper v. General American Life Ins. Co., No. 15-2070 (8th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed suit seeking interest and attorney's fees after General American notified plaintiff that the treasury warrant in the amount of his annuity transfer had never cleared. General American reversed the transaction. The court found that, under the terms of plaintiff's annuity, General American promised to make periodic payments to plaintiff at agreed upon dates; plaintiff does not allege that General American failed to make payments or otherwise failed to fulfill an obligation under the terms of the annuity; nor does this action arise from a declaratory judgment action or an effort by General American to cancel or lapse the policy. Accordingly, the court concluded that plaintiff did not suffer a “loss” covered by Ark. Code Ann. Sections 23-79-208 and 23-79-209, and the district court was correct that neither a 12% penalty nor attorney’s fees are owing by American General under these sections. The court also concluded that the district court did not err in finding plaintiff was not entitled to an award of attorney’s fees under section 16-22-308. Finally, the court concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying attorney’s fees in this case. The court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Shepherd, Author, with Wollman and Benton, Circuit Judges] Civil case. When the transfer of plaintiff's annuity was delayed, he did not suffer a loss covered by Ark. Code Ann. Sections 23-79-208 and 23-79-209, and the district court correctly determined that neither a 12% penalty nor attorney's fees are owing by defendant under the cited sections; plaintiff was not entitled to attorney's fees under Ark. Code Ann. Section 16-22-308 or Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(c)
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