The Northern District of Texas recently issued a pivotal decision for long-tail injury cases. It clarified that under Texas law, excess liability coverage for long-tail injury claims can center on an exposure trigger theory....more
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
IBM recently filed a declaratory judgment action against multiple insurers seeking coverage for environmental remediation costs. The complaint contains lessons for policyholders facing long-tail environmental exposure claims....more
“Acme General Contracting, LLC: Licensed and insured!” If you’ve ever retained a home-improvement contractor, you’ve almost certainly received enthusiastic assurances that he or she is “licensed and insured.” But what...more
Just as the oilfield fuels the modern economy, master service agreements (MSAs) fuel the modern oilfield. But while almost every MSA contains indemnity and insurance clauses, experienced oilfield lawyers will advise their...more
Hosts Lynda A. Bennett and Eric Jesse of Lowenstein Sandler discuss how to access a tower of insurance coverage in light of the recent decision in Pharmacia Corporation v. Arch Specialty Insurance Company, where an...more
Court Finds That Defense Documents Must Be Produced Because Placed “At Issue” by Late Notice- In this declaratory judgment action, American Empire Surplus Lines Insurance Company sought insurance coverage on behalf of its...more
The Ohio Court of Appeals, applying Ohio law, has enforced an employment practices liability (“EPL”) carrier’s “other insurance” clause, holding that the insured’s commercial general liability (“CGL”) policy afforded primary...more
Informed insureds know the importance of notifying their primary insurer of an occurrence or a claim. But notice to the primary layer often does not suffice. If the plaintiff’s demand exceeds the limits in the primary...more
A business concedes that it made a mistake, but pleads for mercy with the jury and asks for a reasonable amount of damages. A jury ultimately awards $6 million. There are several insurance policies involved. Who is left...more
Satterfield & Pontikes Constr., Inc. v. United States Fire Ins. Co., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 21488 (5th Cir. Aug. 2, 2018) - This case arises out of an excess insurance provider’s refusal to cover damages incurred by the...more
On February 13, 2018, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision, which concluded that, under New York law, the property damage caused by a subcontractor’s faulty workmanship did not qualify as a...more
Although the terms are often used interchangeably, there are several key differences between umbrella and excess coverage. One such distinction is that an umbrella policy can apply to multiple underlying policies. This makes...more
Claims against insured businesses sometimes implicate multiple liability policies issued by several different carriers, and it is sometimes prudent for some of those carriers to settle the underlying action, even if others...more
Encryption Flaw "Heartbleed" Creates Data Risk: How Insurance Can Stanch the Bleeding - In early April, news broke of an encryption flaw named “Heartbleed” that exposed companies to data breaches for over two and one...more
Policyholders often ask, “How long should I keep my insurance policies?” Is it three years? Seven years? The short answer is none of the above. Here are some brief recommendations regarding document retention for insurance...more