Hinshaw Releases Second Edition of Duty to Defend: A Fifty-State Survey
Loading and Unloading Under GL and Auto Policies: 2022
Prior & Pending Litigation
What is a Damron Agreement?
Last month, the New York Supreme Court issued a well-reasoned order denying the Archdiocese’s insurers’ motion to dismiss its claim against them for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, holding that the...more
We kick off the year with a quartet of state supreme court decisions and an intermediate appellate court ruling that has insurers breathing a harmonious sigh of relief. Policyholders and insurers often disagree over what the...more
An owner, general contractor (GC) and subcontractor (Sub) were sued by injured workers at a construction site, and they were defended by the Sub’s insurer, U.S. Specialty Insurance Company. U.S. Specialty tendered their...more
The insured punched and kicked the Claimant, causing injuries. The Claimant sued the insured alleging that the insured assaulted him, and negligently and recklessly caused his injuries. Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance...more
There’s been plenty of litigation over whether construction defect claims qualify for coverage under a CGL policy. This month, we discuss two federal circuit court rulings (First and Seventh Circuits) that reach opposite...more
Applying Washington state law, the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington has held that an insurer had a duty to defend a demand for payment under a vendor invoice for usage fees incurred due to...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, applying Massachusetts law, has held that an insurer does not need to prove that it was prejudiced by the insured’s untimely notice to deny coverage under a...more
In a recent opinion, the District Court for the Northern District of Georgia has ordered an insurer to defend an insured hotel from allegations that it negligently or intentionally permitted a minor to be trafficked for sex...more
There must be something in the water or the plaintiff’s bar just had a conference where the keynote speaker addressed strategies for putting pressure on insurers by issuing time-limited demands (“TLD”) because we have been...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
The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, applying New Jersey law, has held that a misappropriation of funds exclusion unambiguously barred coverage for an accounting firm under its professional liability policy...more
The Connecticut Appellate Court recently provided guidance on what does not constitute property damage under a typical contractor’s Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance policy in Westchester Modular Homes of Fairfield...more
The parent of an infant sued Kim Eichle for Eichle’s alleged negligence in serving alcohol to her houseguest, Jacob Russo, who allegedly assaulted the infant, and for negligence in failing to keep the sidewalk at her...more
Do you know which attorneys will represent your interests if your insurance provider has to defend you in litigation? You might be surprised. As a general rule, liability insurance policies – such as those held by family...more
A federal district court, applying California law, has determined that an insurer owed a duty to defend because the policy’s retroactive date exclusion was ambiguous in that it could reasonably be interpreted to apply only to...more
The owners hired a general contractor (GC) insured by Amerisure to build a movie theatre, and the GC hired a masonry subcontractor (Sub) insured by Selective under a primary and umbrella policy...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
Technology Insurance Company, as the liability insurer for a landlord, filed a declaratory judgment action against Main Street America Assurance Company, as the liability insurer for the landlord’s tenant, seeking a...more
In Hartford Fire Ins. Co. v. The Western Union Co. et al., No. 22-CV-0557 (JMF) (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 22, 2022), a federal judge in New York granted Hartford Fire Insurance Company’s motion for judgment on the pleadings and motion...more
The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, applying Illinois law, has held that an insurer’s complaint plausibly alleged that the insured had breached the terms of the policy’s cooperation clause....more
In two recent decisions, the Texas Supreme Court defined the limited parameters in which Texas courts can look beyond the “four corners” of the complaint against the policyholder and the “four corners” of the insurance policy...more
The Texas Supreme Court recently issued two opinions expanding the use of extrinsic evidence to determine an insurer’s duty to defend third-party claims. Monroe Guar. Ins. Co. v. BITCO Gen. Ins. Corp., No. 21-0232, 2022 WL...more
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The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has held that an insurer has a duty to defend its insured’s subsidiary in a class action lawsuit that alleges wrongful conduct that occurred prior to the...more
The liability insurance relationship is primarily one of contract, with the insurance policy as the principal source of the parties’ obligations. As with other types of insurance, the duties of the parties—and the...more