CVN screenshot of plaintiff attorney Kimball Jones delivering his opening statement
Las Vegas, NV - A Nevada state court jury heard opening statements Monday in a lawsuit seeking $20 million from insurer USAA for supposedly acting in bad faith by refusing to pay a client’s claims after a rear-end collision and then litigating against him.
Plaintiff Timothy Kuhn claims he suffered a serious brain injury after being rear-ended by a pickup truck in 2018. Despite USAA initially agreeing the accident was 100 percent the fault of the other driver, Kuhn alleges the company then breached its obligations to him by intervening in his lawsuit against the pickup driver and then arguing their own client was at fault for the accident.
USAA maintains Kuhn’s head injuries are not nearly as serious as claimed, and that they fulfilled their obligations to him by eventually making a $250,000 policy limit payment days before the trial began, and that Kuhn had the option of pursuing additional coverage from a separate insurer.
The full trial is being webcast and recorded gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network.
Plaintiff attorney Kimball Jones of Bighorn Law, representing Kuhn, told jurors how a Ford F-150 pickup slammed into the back of his BMW sedan at 45 miles-per-hour while he was in stationary traffic on the highway. Jones described how Kuhn promptly filed a claim with USAA, and that they acknowledged the other driver was 100 percent at-fault for the collision.
While Kuhn’s neck and back injuries improved over time, Jones detailed how he had persistent problems with memory loss, headaches, loss of smell and difficulty with focus and executive function. Kuhn characterized these symptoms as the classic hallmarks of a traumatic brain injury from a concussion, and he described how Kuhn accumulated tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills seeing neurologists in multiple states and pursuing various forms of rehabilitation.
In June of 2020 Kuhn’s attorneys submitted a claim to the pickup truck driver's insurer, and they made a prompt $50,000 policy limit payment. The following September, upon being informed Kuhn intended to sue the driver, Jones told jurors USAA decided to intervene and litigate against Kuhn.
Throughout this process, Kuhn said USAA would only make a $10k payout offer, an amount he described as a “lowball” made in obvious bad faith given the insurer’s eventual decision to pay the $250,000 policy limit.
Kuhn argued USAA’s obligations to act in good faith towards an insured extended into the litigation process, and he sharply criticized the company for arguing in court filings that Kuhn’s own “comparative negligence” caused the crash after already acknowledging in writing the other driver was 100 percent at-fault.
“USAA knew whose fault it was while they were blaming Tim,” Jones said.
He urged jurors to reject the argument USAA’s payout on the eve of trial absolves it of any liability, arguing that years of litigation over what should supposedly be straightforward coverage while Kuhn's bills mounted resulted from the “delay, deny, defend” strategy - a popular shorthand for tactics used by large insurers to delay and avoid paying valid claims.
Jones concluded his opening by asking for an award of $20 million, including punitive damages that he argued were justified due to USAA’s supposed “reckless” disregard for their own policies.
Representing USAA, defense attorney Robert McLay of DKM Law Group began his statement with high praise for Jones, telling jurors his opening statement was the best he’d ever seen in his lengthy career.
CVN screenshot of defense attorney Robert McClay delivering his opening statement
However McClay argued Kuhn’s head injury was never as serious as claimed, and that a $20 million award is completely unreasonable given that USAA did make a policy limit payout before trial.
“It’s about the money,” McClay said.
He told jurors that Kuhn’s actions immediately after the collision, like using his cell phone in the ambulance, were not consistent with someone who suffered a serious brain injury. He also cited evidence of Kuhn’s supposedly significant recovery and suggested he leads an independent life that contradicts the narrative presented in Jones' opening.
“It does not add up,” McClay emphasized to jurors.
He insisted a delay in payment does not automatically mean an insurer acts in bad faith, and that it’s completely reasonable to have a “good faith dispute” over the underlying facts of a claim and investigate them. He suggested the $250,000 payout was part of an overall litigation strategy and not an endorsement of Kuhn’s underlying claims.
McClay also argued that nothing USAA did precluded coverage from his excess insurer, Hudson, which is not participating in the trial.
The trial is taking place before Judge Gloria Sturman, and CVN’s live and on-demand coverage will continue for the duration of the trial.
The case is captioned Timothy Kuhn v. Hector Cervantes-Andrade, case number A-20-821602-C in Clark County, Nevada.
E-mail David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com
