Judge Triples Jury Award in Nautilus Insurance Suit Against Murdaugh Accomplice

A federal judge last week tripled the damages that Alex Murdaugh’s co-conspirator must pay to Nautilus Insurance Co., bringing the total to $3.75 million – plus significant attorney fees incurred by the insurer.

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A jury last week found Cory Fleming, a longtime friend and associate of prominent South Carolina attorney and convicted murderer Murdaugh, of helping Murdaugh steal millions in insurance settlement funds. The jury awarded $1.25 million in the civil suit brought by Nautilus, the excess and surplus lines carrier that had written Murdaugh’s liability policy on his property, where his housekeeper was found dead after a supposed fall. The jury also granted $50 in punitive damages to be paid to Nautilus.

But U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel said the jury award was not adequate. The South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act, abbreviated as SCUPTA, requires triple damages for willful violations, the judge noted.

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“Fleming’s unfair and deceptive acts played a critical role in Murdaugh’s ability to ultimately steal over $4 million dollars in settlement funds,” Gergel wrote in his Jan. 9 order. “The Court finds that Defendant Fleming committed a ‘willful or knowing violation’ of SCUTPA and hereby trebles Plaintiff’s damages, resulting in an award of $3,750,000.00.”

The order is the latest in multi-year court proceedings that have caught the attention of news media around the world. Murdaugh was convicted in 2023 of killing his wife and son. Claiming opioid addiction had clouded his judgment, Murdaugh, one of the highest-profile injury lawyers in the state, also pleaded guilty to 27 financial crimes.

Murdaugh also admitted to conspiring with Fleming, who also was a lawyer in South Carolina, to defraud $4 million from Nautilus Insurance. Murdaugh had convinced his housekeeper’s family to let his law firm handle the funds from a settlement after the housekeeper, Glorida Satterfield, died. Then he and Fleming conspired to divert most of the millions to their personal use, Murdaugh admitted in court.

Early this month, a jury found Murdaugh liable for $14.8 million, to be paid to Nautilus. Fleming also had pleaded guilty to helping Murdaugh swipe the funds and is serving time in prison. In the civil trial last week, Fleming was found liable but his former law firm was exonerated.

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It was not reported in court documents if Murdaugh and Fleming have any assets after the extensive litigation or if they have the ability to pay the damage awards to Nautilus.

Gergel asked Nautilus attorneys to submit an itemized listing of legal fees and costs incurred, by Thursday, Jan. 16. The judge’s order in the Fleming award can be seen here.

Nautilus is an E&S carrier formed in 1985 and based in Arizona. It is owned by W.R. Berkley Corp., a publicly traded commercial lines insurance group.

Top photo: The Satterfield family with their attorney, Eric Bland, at the 2023 sentencing in Murdaugh’s criminal trial on charges of stealing from clients. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool)

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