Bill on Bankruptcy: The Market's Unquenchable Thirst for Junk
Asbestos fibers, chemical fumes, environmental pollutants—what do they have in common? They all involve injuries that manifest over time and are continuously at the center of the complex exposure trigger debate....more
Can AI or Chat GBT write poetry, perhaps by accident. But an insurance underwriter came up with the phrase: “Taking the suddenness out of accident.” Now that’s poetry. The poet was describing the “occurrence” definition in an...more
It’s not often that the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on insurance issues. That’s because the McCarran-Ferguson Act gives states the primary authority to regulate the business of insurance. So when the Supreme Court speaks on...more
In Utica Mutual Insurance Company v. Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, reversing a jury verdict in the District Court, held that the “follow-the-settlements” doctrine does not...more
In a significant Connecticut Supreme Court win for policyholders officially released this week, Murtha Cullina helped Vanderbilt Minerals, LLC prevail once again in its coverage case against more than 20 of its insurance...more
On October 4, 2019 (almost two years after granting certification), the Connecticut Supreme Court affirmed the Appellate Court’s rulings on four key coverage issues in R.T. Vanderbilt Company v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity...more
In a pair of recent asbestos coverage decisions, a Pennsylvania federal court issued rulings addressing expedited funding orders, number of “occurrences,” and the applicability of aggregate limits under the Fourth Circuit’s...more
On November 21, 2018, the New York Supreme Court, Onondaga County, issued a summary-judgment ruling on a number of coverage issues arising from asbestos-related bodily injury claims against plaintiffs Carrier Corporation...more
On August 18, 2018, the New York Supreme Court, New York County, confirmed a referee’s finding that “all sums” allocation was required under excess policies issued by Midland Insurance Company because they included a...more
Honeywell International Inc. (“Honeywell”), represented by its counsel at K&L Gates LLP, achieved a decisive victory for policyholders in a ruling from the Supreme Court of New Jersey on June 27, 2018, in the long-running...more
In April 1977, a few weeks before I began practicing law, senior claims executives of eighteen liability insurance companies met to discuss the insurance implications of asbestos bodily injury claims....more
On November 29, 2017, the New York Supreme Court issued an important ruling benefiting policyholders seeking insurance coverage for toxic tort claims. In American Home Assurance Company v. Port Authority of New York & New...more
This case concerns an action filed by Utica Mutual Insurance Company (Utica) against its reinsurer, Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company (FFIC) seeking to enforce certain reinsurance contracts against FFIC with respect to...more
The scope of an insurer’s right to control the defense of an insured is an underdeveloped issue in Massachusetts case law, which the Appeals Court recently addressed in OneBeacon America Ins. Co. v. Celanese Corp., No....more
“Long-tail” claims involve personal injury or property damage from alleged exposure to injury-causing products, such as asbestos or PFCs, over a number of years and multiple policy periods. Courts in various jurisdictions use...more
In an action involving claims under facultative reinsurance for the reinsurance of asbestos risks, the reinsurer sought discovery of documents concerning the allocation of losses among the reinsurers on the program, and...more
In this case, a Louisiana federal court denied a motion for remand of a former machinist’s asbestos-related claim, finding that an English insurer’s removal from state court was appropriate and that the dispute could relate...more
Insured companies sued Travelers for allegedly misrepresenting the scope of coverage afforded for asbestos injury claims under certain Excess Overlayer Indemnity policies. At issue has been the discoverability of a memorandum...more
In a lengthy February 24, 2017 opinion, a New York federal court denied cross motions for summary judgment on the Follow the Settlements Doctrine, filed by Utica Mutual Insurance Company and Utica’s reinsurer, Fireman’s Fund...more
On March 7, the Connecticut Appellate Court handed a victory to policyholders seeking insurance for long-tail liabilities. The court adopted both a continuous trigger for asbestos-related disease claims and an unavailability...more
A court has denied a motion to reconsider its decision denying a reinsurer’s (Century Indemnity Co.) motion to compel an insurer (Travelers Casualty and Surety Company) to produce certain documents in a case in which...more
A federal district court in California recently dismissed a lawsuit brought by a cedent against its reinsurer for lack of a personal jurisdiction, where the reinsurer’s only contacts with the state derived from the fact that...more
In Viking Pump, Inc., et al. v. TIG Insurance Co., et al., 2016 N.Y. LEXIS 1018 (N.Y. May 3, 2016), policyholders scored a victory when New York’s highest court applied “all sums” allocation and vertical exhaustion. The...more
On May 3, the New York Court of Appeals unanimously held that an “all-sums” method of allocation should be used to apportion liability among excess insurers based on the policy language at issue in the case. Contrary to...more
The New York Court of Appeals recently answered two certified questions from the Delaware Supreme Court concerning insurance allocation, and the Court’s answers may impact significantly policyholders litigating “long-tail”...more