Imagine you hired a general contractor to renovate the master bathroom of your home. The general contractor hired a subcontractor to do the plumbing work, but the subcontractor botched the job, resulting in a massive leak…
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/ Construction Law, Insurance
With new headlines involving sexual harassment and other inappropriate sexual conduct continuing to emerge on a daily basis, insurance coverage for claims that might emerge is something every company should consider…
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/ Civil Rights, Insurance, Labor & Employment Law
We recently wrote about the California Supreme Court’s decision in Fluor Corporation v. Superior Court to limit the enforceability of clauses in third party liability insurance policies that prohibit the policyholder from…
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/ Civil Procedure, Commercial Law & Contracts, Insurance
The first line of the Seventh Circuit’s opinion says it all: “This case provides a warning for insurance companies who refuse to defend their insureds.” As the court’s admonishment suggests, insurers that improperly refuse to…
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/ Civil Procedure, Commercial Law & Contracts, Personal Injury, Insurance
In a unanimous decision handed down by the California Supreme Court on August 20, 2015 in Fluor Corporation v. Superior Court, the court removed a significant obstacle facing companies that want to assign their interests in a…
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/ Civil Procedure, Commercial Law & Contracts, Insurance, Personal Injury
As we previously reported here, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit asked the Georgia Supreme Court to weigh in on the coverage dispute in Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. v. XL Specialty Insurance Co…
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/ Civil Procedure, Commercial Law & Contracts, Insurance
As any company facing EPA administrative action under CERCLA knows, the financial risk and defense costs associated with those proceedings can be the same as the risk and costs of an EPA lawsuit under CERCLA. But insurers have…
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/ Administrative Law, Civil Procedure, Commercial Law & Contracts, Environmental Law, Insurance
Many corporate executives may be under the impression that the defense costs they incur when sued for actions taken in their role as officers of the company would be covered by a “Management Protection” insurance policy. The…
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/ Bankruptcy, Business Organizations, Commercial Law & Contracts, Insurance
In Babcock & Wilcox Co. v. American Nuclear Insurers, a divided Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, deciding an issue of first impression under Pennsylvania law, recently held that when an insurer defends its insured subject to a…
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/ Civil Procedure, Civil Remedies, Construction Law, Insurance, Personal Injury
Joining a majority of states that have addressed the issue, the Montana Supreme Court recently held that “an insurer who does not receive timely notice required by the terms of an insurance policy must demonstrate prejudice from…
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/ Civil Procedure, Commercial Law & Contracts, Insurance
Professional liability insurance policyholders often breathe a sigh of relief when their insurer begins funding the costs of defending against a civil claim or government investigation. That is one of the reasons they bought the…
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/ Business Organizations, Criminal Law, Insurance
In Kelly v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., the Supreme Court of Louisiana recently held that an insurer can be liable for bad faith failure to settle a claim even if it has not received a firm offer to settle the claim. The…
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/ Civil Remedies, Commercial Law & Contracts, Insurance
Fidelity bonds are purchased primarily to protect against loss to the policyholder’s own assets, from things like employee theft or embezzlement. In Avon State Bank v. BancInsure, Inc., however, the Eighth Circuit interpreted…
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/ Business Torts, Civil Procedure, Finance & Banking, Insurance, Labor & Employment Law
In a decisive victory for policyholders, Judge Thomas Vena of the Essex County Superior Court in New Jersey ruled that significant damages incurred by Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (“PSEG”) as a result of storm surge…
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/ Civil Procedure, Commercial Law & Contracts, Insurance, Real Estate - Commercial
With data breaches affecting companies across virtually every industry, cyber security has remained front page news. Lawsuits brought by aggrieved consumers and financial institutions against companies that have suffered data…
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/ Business Organizations, Commercial Law & Contracts, Insurance, Science, Computers, & Technology, Securities Law
