Insurers could push to settle Skaggs case

Millions ride on the outcome as a suit over the Angels pitcher’s death heads to a jury.

- BY STEVE HENSON

PLAINTIFFS' lawyer Daniel Dutko gives his closing arguments on Monday.

Four years after the family of deceased Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs filed a wrongful death suit against the Angels, and two months into often contentious testimony in an Orange County Superior Court courtroom, jurors are set to begin deliberations on whether Skaggs’ widow and parents deserve hundreds of millions of dollars.

During closing statements Monday, plaintiffs' lawyer Daniel Dutko argued that the Angels were negligent in failing to supervise Eric Kay, the drug-addicted team communications director who gave Skaggs the fentanyl that killed him in 2019.

At trial, Angels lawyer Todd Theodora has insisted that Skaggs was a selfish, secretive opioid addict who for years manipulated Kay into obtaining drugs for him.

Theodora told the jury that the Angels didn’t owe the Skaggs family any award.

But it's not just Skaggs' family and the Angels who have a lot riding on the jury's decision. Among the powerful stakeholders that have been watching the proceedings closely are the companies that insure the Angels.

According to people with knowledge of the Angels' defense, the team is insured by several companies that each provide coverage with various limits, and it's possible that those insurers could facilitate a case settlement even before the jury reaches its verdict.

"Insurance companies are in the business of mitigating risk; they don't like uncertainty," said Brian Panish, a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer who was not involved in the case but has won several landmark jury verdicts. "They calculate risk and proceed from there. In this case we are talking about multiple insurance companies."