In a phenomenon unusual for many residents of the northeastern United States, dense clouds of smoke from wildfires in Canada passed through several major cities, including New York, the week of June 5, 2023. As air quality...more
A January 15, 2021, decision from the UK’s highest court spells good news for English policyholders. In The Financial Conduct Authority v. Arch Insurance (UK) Ltd., and others, UKSC 2020/0177, the Court held that 21 insurance...more
1/27/2021
/ Business Interruption ,
Business Losses ,
Causation ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Hybrid Insurance Policies ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
UK ,
UK Supreme Court
Two recent COVID-19 insurance decisions highlight how different interpretations of the same few policy words can result in one policyholder losing the coverage for which it paid. In Henderson Road Restaurant Systems, Inc. v....more
Policyholders are hailing two recent victories in their pursuit of insurance coverage for COVID-related business interruption losses. A North Carolina court granted a policyholder summary judgment that a commercial property...more
A New Jersey state court recently rejected an insurer’s claim that COVID-related losses cannot qualify as covered losses. In Optical Services USA/JCI v. Franklin Mutual Insurance Co., No. BER-L-3681-20, pending in the...more
Insurers and policyholders long have debated whether business interruption insurance covers losses resulting from governmental orders – a debate intensified by numerous recent coverage claims arising from COVID-19 forced...more
During the days and weeks following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, protests erupted in every state across the country. Although most of these protests remained peaceful, there were...more
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently issued an Opinion that, although unrelated to insurance, provides helpful language to which policyholders and their counsel likely will cite in support of arguments for insurance...more
The Pennsylvania Senate has joined the ranks of other states’ lawmakers, as well as Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives, in proposing broad legislation that would assist policyholders that are suffering from the major...more
On April 9, 2020, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy issued Executive Order 123, providing immediate relief to policyholders of property and casualty, life, health, and dental insurance for nonpayment of premiums due to the...more
Lawmakers in New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana have proposed legislation clarifying that property policies’ business interruption coverage extends to losses attributable to the coronavirus...more
Lawmakers in New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Massachusetts have proposed legislation confirming that property policies’ business interruption coverage extends to losses attributable to the coronavirus pandemic and social...more
Coronavirus contamination has disrupted the work force, supply chains, and transportation. Official bans on large public gatherings across the country, and the ordered closures of restaurants and bars implemented by many...more
As if the owners of coal-fired power plants did not have enough to worry about, two studies published last month concluded that the shutdowns of coal-fired power plants were associated with improvements in the reproductive...more
Owners and operators planning a plant shutdown benefit from developing a forward-looking "Vision" of their plant site. The Vision is a well-developed plan for the eventual reuse of the plant property that includes not only...more
Coal plant owners and operators can make a plant shutdown easier by planning now for the site’s future. This plan, or Vision, can help expedite shutdown efforts, reduce costs, improve relations with the local community, and...more
As far as contamination concerns go, asbestos-containing materials (ACM) are generally way down the list of issues at a shutdown coal plant. You hire certified contractors, bag the ACM and dispose of it in approved landfills....more
Operators shutting down coal-fired plants would be wise to plan ahead for potential future remediation obligations – aka the “reopener.” Predicting these obligations may be quite difficult, but operators can implement...more
As Yogi Berra used to say: “It ain’t over till it’s over.” Coal plant operators shutting down their plants should remember this phrase. Even after they throw the breakers, go off the grid, are no longer contributing to the...more
8/30/2016
/ Coal Industry ,
Coal Mines ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Security ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
NERC ,
Personal Data ,
Popular ,
Privacy Policy ,
Reliability Standards ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
In an important recent decision, New Jersey joined a growing number of states holding that Insurance Services Office’s (ISO) 1986 comprehensive general liability (CGL) policy extends coverage to a property developer faced...more
8/24/2016
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Contract ,
Commercial General Liability Policies ,
Condominiums ,
Consequential Damages ,
Construction Defects ,
Construction Project ,
Exceptions ,
General Contractors ,
Housing Developers ,
NJ Supreme Court ,
Occurrence ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Property Damage ,
Subcontractors
Imagine this scenario: A company operates a coal ash landfill. Local citizens protest and organize an advocacy group against it and create a Facebook page. The company responds by suing the individual members of the group for...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
5/18/2016
/ Asbestos Litigation ,
Contract Interpretation ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Excess Policies ,
Horizontal Exhaustion Doctrine ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Long-Tail Claims ,
Non-Cumulation Clause ,
Pro Rata Allocation Rule ,
Umbrella Policies
Berries. Walnuts. Wholesome. Healthy. But not when they may be contaminated with harmful bacteria. On May 10, 2016, grocery store chain Publix announced a voluntary recall of its cranberry nut and seed mix. Publix learned of...more
Commercial General Liability policies have, for several decades, included advertising and personal injury coverage. Such coverage is afforded for injury caused by various enumerated offenses, including breach of privacy....more
4/14/2016
/ Class Action ,
Commercial General Liability Policies ,
Confidential Information ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Data Breach ,
Duty to Defend ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Insurance Industry ,
Internet ,
Personal and Advertising Injury Coverage ,
Popular ,
Publication Requirement
The environmental remediation costs of decommissioning a coal-fired power plant can be chillingly high—in one proposal we recently reviewed, the environmental costs of a 45-year-old plant with four ash ponds approached $30...more