Podcast: Chevron Deference: Is It Time for Change? - Diagnosing Health Care
Podcast: Non-binding Guidance: A Discussion of Kisor v. Wilkie
Long a feature of directors’ and officers’ (D&O) liability insurance policies, the so-called “Bump-Up” Exclusion has gotten significant attention over the last few years. Because of the recent escalation in securities...more
In Yahoo Inc. v. National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, — Cal. Rptr. 3d —;2022 Cal. LEXIS 6887; 2022 WL 16985647 (Nov. 17, 2022), the California Supreme Court applied established rules of policy interpretation and found...more
Insurance policies are legal documents. In the event of a dispute, their scope and meaning will be submitted to a court or arbitrator for interpretation. Most brokers are not attorneys. Most risk managers are not attorneys....more
An employer learned the full cost of ambiguity when a Connecticut federal district court agreed with an employee’s widow that the word “maximum” was ambiguous in the company’s life insurance plan, thus making the widow...more
On May 1, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia held that a firearms exclusion in a general liability insurance policy applied to bar coverage for an underlying action arising from a shooting at the...more
Massachusetts Appeals Court Gets It Right – Mostly - Hot on the heels of the Federal Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in MTI, Inc. v. Employers Insurance Company of Wausau, __ F.3d __, 2019 WL 321423 (10th Cir....more
On January 25, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, applying Oklahoma law, held that the phrase “that particular part” is ambiguous and may refer to either the distinct component upon which an insured works...more
Typical first party property policies include provisions that address failure to maintain heat as excluded losses. The Eastern District of New York recently analyzed a specific endorsement requiring that heat be maintained at...more
In Duarte v. Pacific Specialty Ins. (No. A143828; filed 6/12/17, ord. pub. 6/29/17) a California appeals court held that an insurer was not entitled to summary judgment on its rescission claim because the disputed questions...more
“Request for Production Number 25: Produce the entire underwriter’s file for underwriting the policy.” This familiar discovery demand has become far too common in the realm of insurance coverage litigation, and the request is...more
The United States District Court for the District of Connecticut recently reaffirmed its ruling that the term “collapse,” as defined by a homeowners insurance policy, is unambiguous and that the policy in question did not...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Northern District of Indiana rejected the insurer’s assertion that its pollution exclusion clauses unambiguously included all contaminants. Indiana, unlike other jurisdictions, is pro-insured when...more
Disputes involving “vacancy” exclusions typically involve the appropriate definition of that word. The recently-decided case of Lui v. Essex Ins. Co., 2016 Wash. LEXIS 692 (Wash. June 9, 2016) presents a somewhat different...more
Exception to Mold Exclusion Requires Defense of Suit Alleging Injuries From Moldy Water - Why it matters: An exclusion for "Fungi or Bacteria" did not prevent a federal court judge in Tennessee from ordering an insurer...more
Sequeira v. Lincoln Nat’l Life Ins. Co., No. A139639 (Cal. Ct. App. Aug. 31, 2015) - The California Court of Appeal recently reiterated the importance of careful drafting to insurers when it reversed a trial court’s...more
While many Event Cancellation/Non-appearance policies offer effective coverage for financial losses and additional costs when the insured performer dies from natural causes or an accident, they reach their limits if the...more
New York Court Rules That Conflict Between Exclusion and Grant of Coverage Created Ambiguity in Exclusion Requiring Trial - Why it matters: In a coverage dispute arising out of the Madoff debacle, a financial bond...more
Three Wins and A New Rule - In this edition of the Manatt newsletter, we take a look at several new cases that examine an array of important insurance issues. First, though, we report an important victory for...more
On July 3, 2013, a closely divided Florida Supreme Court held that judges were required to interpret ambiguous policy language strictly against the insurer and in favor of coverage, and that courts should not first attempt to...more