"The crux of Equity's argument in opposition is that Ms. Kemper's demand was not an offer capable of acceptance due to her failure to address liens and her communication prohibition," wrote Brown. "But as this court seeks to make abundantly clear, these facts go to the ultimate issue of whether Equity's response was reasonable or in bad faith."

Therefore, he said, the demand letter "was an offer to settle, and Equity's response was a counteroffer and thus a rejection."

"The court anticipates all of this means very little to the trial of this case," he continued. "It bears repeating that the jury will decide whether Equity acted negligently or in bad faith in failing to settle the claim against its insured."

The convoluted case began in 2012 when Kemper, a Clayton County deputy sheriff, was hit while riding her personal motorcycle by a Chevy Blazer driven by Christopher Brown.

Brown fled the scene but was caught and charged with driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, among other offenses.

Kemp was hospitalized with internal injuries and a broken arm, pelvis and leg, racking up more than $1 million in medical bills.

A few weeks later, the claims agent for Brown's insurer, Equity, got a bill for more than $24,000 for Kemper's air ambulance service, and its investigation showed her injuries would well exceed Brown's $25,000 limits.

The adjuster, Statewide Claims Service, sent Kemper a letter requesting her medical bills, records and any lost wage claims.

Werner Law principal Michael Werner, working pro bono, helped Kemper draft a hand-written reply saying she would sign a limited release in exchange for the policy limits.

It carried a 21-day limit and included a request: "Please Do Not contact me, or my Friends as this demand is very simple."

Statewide sent her a $25,000 check with a demand: "In concluding the settlement, we are entrusting that you place money in an escrow account in regards to any and all liens."

Werner rejected the demand as an unacceptable counteroffer and returned the check.

Kemper sued Brown in Heard County Superior Court, where the judge ruled there had been a binding settlement for $25,000 between the parties.

The Georgia Court of Appeals reversed that ruling and as the case was going to trial Brown signed a $10 million consent judgment assigning his failure to settle claim to Kemper.

Kemper sued Equity in DeKalb County; the insurer had the complaint removed to federal court, where Brown dismissed it on summary judgment.

Brown ruled that Equity was shielded by a 2012 Georgia Court of Appeals decision that provides a "safe harbor" for insurers accused of failing to timely settle a demand if "the sole reason for the parties' inability to reach a settlement is the plaintiff's unreasonable refusal to assure the satisfaction of any outstanding hospital liens." That decision was captioned Southern General Insurance v. Wellstar Health System, 726 S.E.2d 488.

The Eleventh Circuit ruled that there were "numerous factual issues here surrounding the issue of negligence and bad faith, even bearing Wellstar in mind."

On remand, both Kemper and Equity filed motions for summary judgment.

In ruling for Kemper, Brown deemed Equity's motion a "rehash" of its arguments to the appellate court.

"The 11th Circuit has ruled that the issues relating to Ms. Kemper's failure to address liens and prohibition on communications must be resolved by a jury," Brown wrote. "The Court is unpersuaded by Equity's efforts to repackage its original arguments into something new and sidestep the 11th Circuit's ruling."

The "law of the case" doctrine, he wrote, bars the relitigation of issues already decided either explicitly or implicitly, and "it applies to issues that could have been raised in a prior appeal but were not."

"The 11th Circuit considered Equity's arguments and found there were 'too many disputed issues related to the failure-to-settle claim to grant summary judgment in favor of Equity,'" said Brown, quoting the appellate ruling.

He gave both sides until mid-September to decide on a mediator and emphasized that he was not staying the case or continuing any deadlines.

Slappy & Sadd partner Rich Dolder, who argued Kemper's appeal, referred queries to Werner.

"Mrs. Kemper is grateful and looking forward to seeing her day in court," said Werner via email. "It has been a long nine years.

Equity's attorney, Peter Schmidt of Taylor Odachowski Schmidt & Crossland of Saint Simons

Island, Georgia, declined to comment on the pending litigation.