Should You Engage a Financial Advisor?
Discrimination and Bias in Residential Lending
Five Steps a Healthcare Banker Recommends When Acquiring a Medical or Dental Practice
What is an Appraisal?
Episode 014: Business Divorce Stories: Business Appraiser Tony Cotrupe and Attorney Jeff Eilender
Episode 1: Chris Mercer Interview on Marketability Discount: Part 1
Episode 2: Chris Mercer Interview on Marketability Discount: Part 2
Episode 11: Mediating Business Valuation Disputes: Conversation with Arthur Rosenbloom
Accidents happen—whether a piece of artwork or a collectible is damaged in shipping, affected by fire or water or even knocked over by Steve Wynn’s elbow. Having the right insurance in place can help mitigate financial losses...more
Welcome to the first 2025 edition of the Zelle Lonestar Lowdown! Our theme this year is Collaboration. We recognize that we are not an island in this industry and our clients, and ultimately the property owners, best benefit...more
One Church v. Brotherhood Mut. Ins. Co., 2024-Ohio-1601 - The plaintiff was insured by the defendant insurance company for property damage to its building, which sustained wind damage in a storm on February 24, 2019. The...more
“Appraisal” is a procedure typically mandated by state law or outlined in an insurance policy. Appraisal is a dispute resolution procedure intended to provide insurers and policyholders with a method to award the measurement...more
In a recent decision by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Wood v. GeoVera Specialty Insurance Company (2024 WL 3952571), the court affirmed that unambiguous policy limits remain enforceable even when...more
Heritage Property & Casualty Ins. Co., Appellant v. Sunset Villas Phase III Condominium Association, Inc., Appellee, Fla. 3rd DCA, 3D23-1672, May 15, 2024, Appeal from non-final order from Miami-Dade Co. Lower Tribunal No....more
Am. Coastal Ins. Co. v. San Marco Villas Condo. Ass’n, Inc., SC2021-0883, 2024 WL 369079 (Fla. 2024) - The defendant, San Marco, filed a property claim with its insurer, American Coastal, for damage sustained to its property...more
On February 1, 2024, the Supreme Court of Florida issued its opinion in American Coastal Ins. Co. v. San Marco Villas Condominium Ass’n, Inc., 2024 WL 369079 (Fla. 2024), to address a persisting conflict on the timing of...more
In Rodriguez v. Safeco Ins. Co. of Ind. the Texas Supreme Court addressed a key issue concerning appraisal that was dividing lower Texas state courts and Texas federal district courts. The United States Court of Appeal for...more
The Southern District of Texas recently held that an appraisal award did not establish liability for a covered loss under the policy. In Hoff v. Meridian Sec. Ins. Co., 2023 WL 5192013 (S.D. Tex. Aug. 11, 2023), Meridian...more
Southern District Holds That Contractor’s Carrier Has Duty To Defend ConEd Even Though Contractor’s Work Ended Months Before The Accident-A pedestrian tripped and fell on a Bronx sidewalk, and she sued the owner of the...more
Accepting coverage for part of a claim may subject an insurer to a policy’s appraisal process when the extent of covered damage is in dispute, according to a recent ruling issued by the Eastern District of Tennessee....more
Property insurance policies commonly provide for an appraisal process to resolve disputes over the amount of loss. But as industry professionals know all too well, the meaning of "amount of loss" is often disputed, and courts...more
Florida House Bill 301—approved by the Florida Legislature in the 2019 Regular Session and signed by the Governor—addressed a number of different issues relating to insurance in Florida. This article discusses four of those...more
Zelle LLP invites you to join us for a week of webinars featuring insurance topics that are of critical importance to adjusters and insurance professionals. This series will cover managing insurance claims in the wake of...more
This is a question the Colorado Supreme Court is set to resolve after recently granting Owners Insurance Company’s petition for writ of certiorari in Owners Insurance Company v. Dakota Station II Condominium Association,...more
In Khorsand v. Liberty Mutual Fire Ins. Co. (No. B280273, filed 2/27/18), a California appeals court affirmed an appraisal award favorable to a homeowners insurer, ruling that it was improper to admit as evidence in...more
It took years of depositions and other discovery to realize that that most of my 2004-2005 hurricane condominium association claims were much simpler to defend than I thought. The center of gravity of these claims was the...more
Suit limitation provisions in insurance policies shorten the statutory period of time that a plaintiff may bring a suit against an insurer for certain causes of action. A New York court recently held that an appraisal award...more
With the continued onslaught of hail and other weather related litigation in Texas, insurance carriers often elect to resolve claims through the appraisal process outlined in the policy. Insurance carriers historically...more
Like Gertrude Stein’s “rose”, an appraisal is an appraisal is an appraisal except in Massachusetts. Massachusetts’ version of appraisal is a statutory process named “reference.” Although a reference proceeding is very similar...more
Virtually all property insurance policies contain an appraisal clause, which outlines the appraisal procedure in broad terms. Those broad terms sometimes do not provide much guidance about the process, or about the effect...more
Minnesota’s severe weather season is here. With that season comes the possibility of hail, heavy rain, lightning, and other weather-related threats that can quickly result in serious property damage to residential and...more
In This Issue: - Southern District of New York: It is Unlawful for an Insurer to Withhold Payment When Some Portion on an Insured’s Entitlement is Undisputed - Eastern District of Pennsylvania: State Farm...more
Last month, a Pennsylvania federal court rejected the notion that a dispute over whether an admittedly covered occurrence necessitated repair of certain discrete portions of the damaged structure was a coverage dispute,...more