Sampson v. National Farmers Union Property and Casualty Co.

Sampson and Cybulski (plaintiffs) were injured by a driver insured by National Farmers Union (NFU) (defendant) and, working with a pro-bono attorney, offered to settle for $125,000, which NFU declined. They then hired a personal-injury attorney, and over a year later NFU settled for the same $125,000, by which point they had incurred roughly $43,500 in attorneys' fees. They sued to recover those fees under Montana's Unfair Trade Practices Act (UTPA), arguing NFU's bad-faith settlement conduct forced them to hire counsel; the trial court granted NFU summary judgment.