(Insurer, Which Issued Annuities to Elderly Plaintiff on
Applications Submitted by a Life Agent Under Insurance Code Section
1704.5, Was Liable for Agent's Wrongful Actions in Procuring
Unsuitable Annuities, Including Liability for Elder
Abuse)
(April 2022) - In Williams v. National
Western Life Ins. Co. (Mar. 4, 2022, No. C090436)
___Cal.App.5th___ [2022 Cal. App. LEXIS 183], the California Third
District Court of Appeal affirmed a jury verdict finding National
Western Life Insurance Company ("NWL") liable for
negligence and financial elder abuse based on the wrongful acts of
a soliciting agent but reversed the award of punitive damages.
After his wife died, an elderly man, Barney Williams, inquired with
an organization called American Family Legal Services in 2016 about
making changes to his living trust. A representative from the
company, Victor Pantaleoni, who identified himself as a
"paralegal," scheduled a meeting at Williams' home.
Pantaleoni's business
