On May 6, 2020, a Montana federal court ruled that an insurer was not obligated to cover $1 million in cleanup costs incurred by an umbrella policyholder after spilling 238 barrels of crude oil and 1,200 barrels of production...more
On January 25, 2019, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that a provision in an insurance policy did not limit coverage for Anadarko’s defense expenses related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill where the provision only capped...more
The New York Court of Appeals ruled last week that if an insurance policy provides for pro rata allocation to determine the insurance coverage responsibility for environmental contamination spanning multiple policy periods,...more
On August 17, 2017, the Washington Supreme Court declined to reconsider its recent landmark ruling in Xia v. ProBuilders Specialty Insurance Co. RRG, 393 P.3d 748 (Wash. 2017), that an absolute pollution exclusion in an...more
In an action seeking insurance coverage for environmental contamination, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that “all sums” allocation would apply to the policies at issue, and therefore the...more
Companies facing environmental cleanup liability typically confront claims that are brought multiple decades after the alleged polluting activity took place. This passage of time often results in the loss or disappearance of...more
In January 2017, the Second Circuit ruled that policyholders must actually or presumptively give their insurers notice of specific policies under which they seek coverage—mailing a notice of the claim may not be enough....more
On June 26, 2015, the Texas Supreme Court held that enforcement proceedings under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (“CERCLA”)—including the issuance of a “PRP letter” notifying...more
In a much anticipated 8-1 decision, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that BP is not entitled to additional-insured coverage in In re Deepwater Horizon, No. 13-0670 (Feb. 13, 2015)....more