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?
On July 14, 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a summary of two findings regarding aspartame, an artificial sweetener found in many consumer products. One finding categorized aspartame as “possibly...more
Businesses and individuals enter into indemnification or hold harmless agreements to protect one party of the transaction from the risks or liabilities created by the other party of the transaction. To defray the costs in...more
When a cybersecurity-related incident occurs, an insured should not automatically assume a standard commercial general liability (CGL) policy issued by an insurer will cover their losses, as CGL policies generally afford...more
Insured gets sued. Insurer hires defense counsel to represent insured. Defense counsel takes over the case, and eventually, the case ends. Most of the time, the carrier and its insured will be satisfied with the result. There...more
Amid high-profile cybersecurity breaches that have spurred regulatory action and encouraged compliance revamps, the Fifth Circuit recently ruled that the Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania (“ICSOP”) has a duty to...more
In this month's edition of our Privacy & Cybersecurity Update, we examine the European Data Protection Board's published opinions on data protection impact assessments, an Ohio court's ruling that bitcoin is covered insured...more
A federal court in Florida recently adopted the now well-developed consensus that data breach losses are not covered under standard Commercial General Liability (CGL) policies....more
Despite the existence of cybersecurity insurance, companies still seek coverage for cyber liability under various types of other insurance. Carriers, in turn, rely upon broad exclusions to limit coverage for risks never...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
In McMillin Management Services v. Financial Pacific Ins. Co. (No. D069814, filed 11/14/17), a California appeals court held that an insurer had a duty to defend a general contractor under an “ongoing operations” additional...more
Individuals affiliated with private fund managers are increasingly being named as defendants in lawsuits involving fund portfolio companies, particularly where the fund controls one or more seats on the portfolio company’s...more
In Travelers Indemnity Co. of America v. Portal Healthcare Solutions, LLC, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reverses the recent trend of insurance companies avoiding any liability for data breaches under commercial general...more
Earlier this month in an unpublished opinion, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals found that Travelers Indemnity Company of America (“Travelers”) had a duty to defend its insured against a data breach suit under the terms of...more
On April 11, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit rendered one of the first appellate-level decisions dealing with insurance coverage for a cyber event. The Fourth Circuit confirmed that a commercial...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
In this month's highlights, a federal court rules that insurance coverage was triggered for the defense of garment hang tag "advertisements" in a trademark/copyright and unfair competition lawsuit…the California Supreme Court...more
Three well-established rules — (1) that policy exclusions are to be interpreted narrowly, (2) that an insurer has the burden to prove the applicability of an exclusion, and (3) that an insurer has a duty to defend as long as...more
On September 15, 2015, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals declared that Lamorak Insurance Company (formerly OneBeacon America Insurance Company) and the Hanover Insurance Group don’t have to defend their insureds, Urban...more
Early days still for coverage litigation about cyber risks – whether under cyber insurance policies or other types of policies. This is not surprising given the relatively short history of cyber risks and even shorter history...more
On November 26, 2014, an Illinois appellate court held that a professional liability insurer had no duty to defend or indemnify its insured for a class action brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) because...more
Legal bloggers sometimes ask themselves: If my post appears on the Internet, but there’s no evidence anyone has read it, have I been published? The question has not yet been finally resolved among law firm compensation...more
Hartford v. Swift imposes “specificity” requirements that may provide comfort to companies facing disparagement claims while requiring careful navigation to trigger CGL policies. The California Supreme Court recently...more
In the course of discharging their coverage obligations, insurers often benefit from bargains they strike with service providers. Healthcare insurers pay in-network caregivers rates that are dramatically lower than the...more
This year, 2014, is lining up with interesting insurance coverage cases pending across the country which may lead to far reaching decisions. In California specifically, it is apparent to us that the Hartford Insurance...more
Decades ago, insurance companies tried to persuade trial courts in California to apply the law of some other state to multi-party environmental and asbestos insurance coverage disputes because the insurance companies believed...more