Slotkin v. Citizens Casualty Co.

OAKES, Circuit Judge:

Any personal injuries lawyer knows that the amount of a defendant’s assets or insurance coverage is generally a factor to be weighed in evaluating a case for settlement. The instant diversity action is one for *304fraud, or its legal equivalent; but it arises from a state court malpractice case that the plaintiffs, a brain-damaged child and his mother,1 settled on the record after trial commenced for $185,000, just under the so-called “policy limit.” Slotkin v. Beth-El Hospital, No. 65-6253 (N.Y.Sup.Ct., Kings County, June 4, 1971) (order approving settlement of March 4,…