First Republic Executives Fail in Attempt to Recover Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plan Assets
A worker was injured when he fell from a ladder while working for a subcontractor at a construction project. The injured worker sued the owner of the project, seeking damages for his injuries. The owner was defended by its...more
In Columbia Casualty Co. v. State Auto Mutual Insurance Co., the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded, under Ohio law, that a demand letter to a general liability insurance carrier’s insured containing allegations of bad...more
The Court of Appeals’ opinion in N.C. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Young, (No. COA24-594) addresses how a court is likely to assess the duty to defend and the duty to indemnify under an insurance contract, and the interplay...more
As a father of three children, I have become intimately familiar with this defense to all manner of allegations (which, yes, often involve property damage). When it comes to coverage disputes, you often see insureds making...more
In Admiral Insurance Co. v. Tocci Building Corp., 120 F.4th 933 (1st Cir. 2024), the federal Court of Appeals ruled that, under current Massachusetts law, a general contractor’s Commercial General Liability (CGL) policy does...more
Litigation arose over whether a suit for misrepresentation and breach of contract arising out of an easement triggered a Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurer's duty to defend. Internal confidential communications...more
In Princeton Excess & Surplus Lines Insurance Co. v. A.H.D. Houston Inc., the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals clarified the meaning of the undefined term “advertising idea” in the insuring agreement of a commercial general...more
In a May 31, 2023, precedential decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit confirmed that under well-settled Pennsylvania law, claims of poor workmanship do not involve an “occurrence” required to...more
In a September 22, 2022 decision, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held a commercial general liability policy’s war and financial services exclusions barred coverage for a suit arising out of the...more
In Citizens Ins. Co. of Amer. v. Thermoflex Waukegan, LLC no. 20-05980 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 1, 2022), the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois rejected the application of three separate general...more
On October 19, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina held that a “hazardous materials” exclusion contained in a CGL policy did not preclude a duty to defend the insured against claims...more
In Builders Mut. Ins. Co. v. Island Pointe, LLC, No. 27970, 2020 S.C. LEXIS 68 (May 13, 2020), the South Carolina Supreme Court clarified that insurers are not required and, absent unusual circumstances...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (“Court”) addressed in a January 17th opinion a company’s umbrella insurance policy’s absolute pollution exclusion. See Eastern Concrete Materials, Inc., v. Ace...more
In a sweeping decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit extended the absolute pollution exclusion to the unplanned discharge of “rock fines,” pellets produced during quarry operations, and denied coverage for...more
It has long been the rule, under Pennsylvania law, that an insurer's duty to defend is determined "solely" by the allegations in the "four corners" of the complaint against the insured. Kvaerner Metals Div. of Kvaerner U.S.,...more
The defendant, Preferred Contractors Insurance Company Risk Retention Group LLC (PCIC), is a risk retention group charted in Montana and doing business in New York. PCIC issued a CGL policy naming defendant Nadkos Inc. as an...more
In Greene v. Kenneth R. Will, a CGL insurer recently prevailed in a declaratory judgment action arising from an underlying class action alleging pollution and nuisance claims against the insured, VIM Recycling LLC, an...more
On May 1, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia held that a firearms exclusion in a general liability insurance policy applied to bar coverage for an underlying action arising from a shooting at the...more
In Netherlands Ins. Co. v. Cellar Advisors, LLC, 2019 U.S. Dist. Lexis 10655 (E.D. Mo.), the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri considered the scope of a waiver of subrogation clause in two wine...more
Owners Insurance Company issued a commercial general liability policy (CGL) to Cruz Accessories, a/k/a H&C Corp.(Cruz). The policy included standard language relating to Owners’ right and duty to defend Cruz, including the...more
Additional insured coverage in construction projects is one of the most vexing issues facing insurance coverage lawyers. Add to the complexity a priority dispute between primary and excess insurers and you have a recipe for...more
“Be careful what you ask for in your declaratory judgment action” could have been an appropriate subtitle....more
The Eleventh Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals recently decided Selective Insurance Company of the Southeast v. William P. White Racing Stables, Inc., et al., 2017 WL 6368843 (December 13, 2017), a case addressing...more
As cyber hacking and phishing schemes become more common, one issue that is often raised is whether, and to what extent, damages resulting from these incidents fall within the coverage afforded under a standard commercial...more
Jesse Bass was a guest at Henry’s Sports Bar in December 2012, when the bouncer struck him in the head with such force that he was knocked unconscious and suffered serious brain injury. Bass brought an action against Henry’s,...more