As Tyler Skaggs wrongful death case heads to jury, Angels insurers may press for settlement

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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.However, Angels lawyer Todd Theodora 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.“He died when he was doing things we teach our children and grandchildren not to do — do not chop up and snort pills from the street,” Theodora said.But it’s not just Skaggs’ family and the Angels who have a lot riding on the jury’s decision.

Among those powerful stakeholders who have been watching the proceedings closely are the agencies 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, a tower of insurance.”Even though the insurance companies represent the Angels, they ultimately could reduce risk for the S...