Today, we’re beginning a series of posts examining the Supreme Court’s record with insurance law cases since 1990.

First, let’s look at the simplest data point: the won-loss record for insurer parties. Between 1990 and 1999, insurers did quite well at the Court, winning twenty cases while losing only twelve. Insurers won four of six cases in 1992 and three of six in 1997 before winning their last four in a row – two in 1998 and two in 1999.

Next, we divide the cases according to who won below. When the insurer won at the Court of Appeal, across the entire decade, insurers won seven cases while losing eight. Insurers lost their first four cases – three in 1990 and one in 1991 – before going 4-3 for the years 1997 through 1999.

In Table 1231, we report insurers’ won-loss record each year in cases the insurer lost below. Across the decade, insurers did very well: thirteen losses from the Court of Appeal were reversed, while only four were affirmed. Between 1990 and 1994, insurers succeeded in overturning all nine adverse decisions the Supreme Court reviewed.

Join us back here tomorrow as we look at the data for the years 2000 to 2009.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Sheila Sund (no changes).