BOUNTIFUL — A Davis County lawyer has received an award from the American Bar Association recognizing his pursuit of justice in his practice that covers insurance fraud.

L. Rich Humpherys, a shareholder and president of Christensen & Jensen, Salt Lake City, was honored by the American Bar Association's Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section for his "ensuring access to justice."

This is the first time a Utah attorney has received this award. It was also given to Christine Durham, chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court.

Humpherys practices in tort and insurance law with an emphasis in insurance bad faith and fraud, representing both plaintiffs and defendants. In one of his most widely recognized cases, he represented the plaintiffs in Campbell v. State Farm that addressed the mistreatment of the Campbells and unearthed a nationwide pattern of fraud and mistreatments of insureds and claimants throughout the country.

When Humpherys first started practicing law in Utah, the state's insurance fraud and bad faith laws were in their infancy. Over the past 28 years, he has helped pioneer new laws to protect consumers from insurance fraud.

As with so many businesses searching for a fatter bottom line, the pressure on insurance claims departments to become profit centers as well as claims settlers, has created an atmosphere that all too often invites corner cutting, said Humpherys, who has taken many cases before the Utah Supreme Court and one before the U.S. Supreme Court.

"There are a lot of good people in the insurance business and a lot who allow themselves to be caught up in the financial incentives to cut claims. Some claims adjusters actually treat clients like they are the enemy," he said.

"It is widespread to see people cheated out of claims money," he said, adding the downward pressure to save insurance companies money causes even good adjusters to compromise and those with lower ethical standards to cross over the acceptable line.

However, the issue isn't one-sided, Humpherys said, with insurance companies presented with bogus or inflated claims. Insurance fraud, no matter the source, is counterproductive to the concept of insurance being a matter of public trust, he said. The court system, he said, has responded to insurers' bad faith actions by creating duties of insurance companies in which good faith actions are required.

As for claimants trying to defraud insurance companies, Humpherys said he has caught frauds, but estimates less than 10 percent of all claims are fraudulent.