In its amicus brief, United Policyholders contends that the trial court acted within its broad discretion in issuing a limited discovery sharing provision, permitting plaintiff’s counsel to use discovered materials in similarly situated bad faith cases. UP argues that such provisions promote fairness, prevent insurer gamesmanship, and further the purposes of Ala. R. Civ. P. 1 by reducing duplicative litigation and counterbalancing the resource disparity between policyholders and large insurers.
In August 2026, the Alabama Supreme Court issued a ruling that allowed the sharing of confidential information in other existing cases with similar allegations of bad faith. Though the Alabama Supreme Court ordered some narrowing of the provision at issue, the result is still a win for policyholders in that it upholds the basic validity of reasonably crafted sharing provisions in protective orders.