Environmental Law, Commercial Law & Contracts, Insurance

Do Liability Policies, Particularly Pollution Liability Insurance Policies, Exclude Coverage for All Injunctions? The Fifth...

by Robert S. Sanoff | Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law on 5/22/2013

The Fifth Circuit handed down an important decision last week, Louisiana Generating LLC v. Illinois Union Insurance Company, clarifying the scope of coverage under a Premises Pollution Liability Insurance Policy. The...more

Defense Cost Analysis in Complex Environmental Fee Claims

by David J. McMahon | Barger & Wolen on 5/21/2013

Introduction - Many of our litigation management audits involve complex environmental cleanup cases. In these cases, it is important to first evaluate the underlying matter, including the fact patterns of the various...more

Climate Change Legal Work: Changing The Paradigm Does Not Come Easily

by J. Wylie Donald | McCarter & English: Climate Change &... on 5/9/2013

I learned the other day that for $3995 I can download nearly a 1000 page report on the climate change industry. The Ah Hah moment was at hand. The President’s promise at his inauguration and then again at the State of the...more

Insurance Coverage Issues for Green-Related Building Projects

by Stevi Raab | Sedgwick LLP on 4/30/2013

Kermit the Frog once famously lamented that “it’s not easy being green.” Well, we hate to break it to you, Kermit, but that’s not exactly true anymore. As it turns out, being green is now all the rage, especially in the...more

Sudden and Accidental Pollution in Massachusetts — Not Always Fatal To Coverage

by Robert S. Sanoff | Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law on 2/22/2013

In some jurisdictions, an environmental claim under a liability policy with a “sudden and accidental” pollution exclusion has the same prospect of success as a due process claim under the strict scrutiny standard — strict in...more

Another Win for Pennsylvania Policyholders Concerning the Duty to Defend and the Pollution Exclusion

by Luke Debevec, John Ellison | Reed Smith on 2/6/2013

Policyholders with pollution-related liabilities in Pennsylvania scored another win in January, in the ongoing litigation battle with insurance companies that argue for the broadest possible interpretation of the "pollution...more

Reverse Coverage Suits: What Happens When Policyholders Agree to Defend and Indemnify Their Insurers

by Robert S. Sanoff | Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law on 1/25/2013

Increasingly, when settling coverage disputes, insurers require policyholders to agree to defend and indemnify the insurer against any additional claims asserted against the insurer. This produces the curious result that...more

Alabama Supreme Court Holds PRP Letter Triggers Duty to Defend

by Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry LLP on 1/3/2013

In its recent decision in Travelers Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Ala. Gas Corp., 2012 Ala. LEXIS 174 (Ala. Dec. 28, 2012), the Supreme Court of Alabama addressed for the first time whether a PRP letter from the EPA qualifies as a...more

Even If You Can't Insure The End Of Days, You Can Insure Some Of The Effects Of Climate Change

by J. Wylie Donald | McCarter & English: Climate Change &... on 12/24/2012

Today is the day the world ended. But it didn’t. The spin put by some on the Mayan calendar didn’t pan out and the world continued. Here in Baltimore we didn’t buy into the predictions, but just in case, we went looking...more

Governmental Actions That May Assist Insurance Recovery for Superstorm Sandy Claims

by Lynda A. Bennett, Andrew S. Zimmerman | Lowenstein Sandler LLP on 12/21/2012

Following the widespread destruction caused by “Superstorm Sandy,” the governors of New York and New Jersey declared states of emergency and issued numerous emergency executive orders and directives. Some of these orders have...more

Michigan Court Holds Tank Repair Costs Not Covered Under UST Policy

by Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry LLP on 11/19/2012

In its recent decision in H & M Petro Mart v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 163205 (E.D.Mich. Nov, 15, 2012), the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan had occasion to consider the...more

Mold, Asbestos, and Raw Sewage – The Toxic Stew that Sandy Left Behind

by Aisha Cassis, Jonathan M. Cohen | Gilbert LLP on 11/13/2012

Superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc across the Eastern Seaboard and is predicted to be one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history. New York’s Governor Cuomo estimates that the storm may have had a $50 billion impact...more

The Proper Reach of Pollution Exclusion Provisions In Insurance Coverage Claims

by Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law on 11/2/2012

Most people would likely consider pollution to be a concept that is tied to harm to the environment -- contamination of soil, groundwater, or ambient air. Consistent with this common understanding of pollution, courts have...more

Hurricane Sandy and Environmental Compliance

by Pierce Atwood LLP on 10/31/2012

As we all prepare for -- or cope with -- the impacts of this storm, we hope you and your loved ones stay safe. Unfortunately, environmental impacts are inevitable. We are mindful that EPA was criticized after Katrina for...more

A Tale of Two Credibilities: Hurricane Sandy and Recent Extreme Weather Reports

by McCarter & English: Climate Change &... on 10/30/2012

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. In North America, anyway. As Hurricane Sandy looms over the Eastern seaboard, we thought it would be worthwhile to take a look at two recent reports about extreme...more

Insurance Coverage For Long Tail Injuries In California

by Robert Freedman - Partner at Tharpe & Howell,... on 10/29/2012

The California Supreme Court recently ruled, in a case involving environmental damage at a State controlled waste site, that multiple insurers, who provided coverage to the State at different periods between 1964-1976, are...more

State of California v. Continental Insurance Company, et al.

by Low, Ball & Lynch on 10/12/2012

Insurance Coverage – Stacking of Policy Limits on Progressive & Continuous Loss - California Supreme Court (August 9, 2012) In this decision, the California Supreme Court has ruled for the first time that in a...more

11th Circuit: Total Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage for Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

by Sedgwick LLP on 9/12/2012

In Scottsdale Insurance Co. v. Pursley, Slip Copy, 2012 WL 3553405 (11th Cir. Aug. 20, 2012), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit rejected an attempt to limit the application of a commercial general liability...more

State Supreme Court Rules Against Insurers in Stringfellow Acid Pits Case

by Barger & Wolen on 8/15/2012

Larry Golub was quoted in an Aug. 9, 2012, article by The Recorder (subscription required) on the state Supreme Court ruling in State of California v. Continental Insurance, involving the cleanup of the Stringfellow Acid...more

California Court Says Insureds Can Stack Policies For Max Coverage

by Barger & Wolen on 8/15/2012

Partner Larry Golub was quoted in a Law360 (subscription required) article published on Aug. 9, 2012, about a key California Supreme Court ruling that insurance policyholders with long-term property damage and personal injury...more

California Allows Policyholders to "Stack" Insurance Coverage

by Proskauer Rose LLP on 8/15/2012

Last Thursday, the California Supreme Court effectively increased the amount of insurance available to businesses for latent injury claims. In a unanimous decision in State of California v. Continental Ins. Co. et al.,...more

California Supreme Court Expands Available Policy Limits To Cover Environmental Claims

by Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger... on 8/15/2012

On August 9, 2012, the California Supreme Court handed down its much anticipated decision in State of California v. Continental Ins. Co. The California Supreme Court held that the “all sums” method of allocation applies in...more

California’s Supreme Court Addresses Trigger of Coverage and Stacking of Limits

by Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry LLP on 8/13/2012

By decision dated August 9, 2012, the Supreme Court of California handed down its long-anticipated holding in State of California v. Continental Insurance Company, 2012 Cal. LEXIS 7324, a ruling that now further defines...more

California Supreme Court Adopts “All-Sums-With-Stacking” Allocation Rule In Pro-Policyholder Environmental Insurance Coverage...

by K. Eric Adair on 8/11/2012

On August 9, the California Supreme Court issued an important decision that will enhance the ability of policyholders to receive the full benefit of their insurance policies for long-tail environmental claims. Specifically,...more

California Supreme Court Finds Full Coverage For Long-Tail Environmental Liabilities

by Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP on 8/10/2012

New decision makes each insurer responsible for loss if any part occurred during policy period, and bars allocation of damage to the insured. On August 9, 2012, the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of...more

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Environmental Law › Commercial Law & Contracts › Insurance