Key Lease Work Letter Issues When the Landlord Is Doing the Work
Law Brief®: David Pfeffer and Richard Schoenstein Discuss the Legal Implications of Infrastructure Collapses
Contractual Notice Requirements: Do You Really Need Them?
Construction Defects: Lessons Learned
California Court of Appeal Opens Doors for Construction Defect Claims Outside of the Right to Repair Act
In this month’s update, we discuss Russian-seized planes, Starbucks-caused traffic jams, a squabble over the use of a family name, a restaurant’s pandemic-based loss, a poorly built house, and whether insurance covers any of...more
Litigation arose over whether a suit for misrepresentation and breach of contract arising out of an easement triggered a Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurer's duty to defend. Internal confidential communications...more
The Connecticut Appellate Court recently provided guidance on what does not constitute property damage under a typical contractor’s Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance policy in Westchester Modular Homes of Fairfield...more
Although a construction manager’s scheduling and liaison responsibilities do not require specialized training, such tasks may be sufficiently related to the actor’s other roles to be excluded from coverage under a liability...more
With very limited exceptions, liability policies provide insureds with two primary benefits: a defense paid for by the insurance carrier and indemnity for covered claims. These benefits to the insured are purchased with...more
In a case of first impression, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (applying Illinois law) rejected a LEG3 exclusion as ambiguous. See S. Capitol Bridgebuilders “SCB” v. Lexington Ins. Co., 2023...more
In the recent decision of Korte & Luitjohan Contractors Inc. v. Erie Insurance Exchange, the Fifth District Appellate Court of Illinois reaffirmed that, under Illinois law: (1) construction defects generally do not trigger...more
Applying Arizona law, the United States District Court for the District of Arizona held that an insurer that breached its duty to defend bears the burden of demonstrating that an allocation of defense costs between covered...more
On July 29, 2020, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Southern Owners Ins. Co. v. MAC Contractors, of Fla., LLC, --- Fed. Appx. ---, 2020 WL 4345199 (11th Cir. July 29, 2020). While claiming to follow...more
In Builders Mut. Ins. Co. v. Island Pointe, LLC, No. 27970, 2020 S.C. LEXIS 68 (May 13, 2020), the South Carolina Supreme Court clarified that insurers are not required and, absent unusual circumstances...more
The proper trigger of coverage in construction defect disputes has been addressed on several occasions by New Jersey courts. Most notably, in Air Master & Cooling, Inc. v. Selective Insurance Company of America, 452 N.J....more
A year ago, we wrote about a rapidly emerging area of insurance litigation in Connecticut: crumbling foundations. As a quick recap, tens of thousands of homes in northeastern Connecticut built over a span of more than 30...more
On October 9, 2018, in Ohio N. University v. Charles Constr. Servs., Inc., Slip Opinion 2018-Ohio-4057, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that property damage caused by a subcontractor’s allegedly defective work was not covered...more
In Harper Construction Co. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, the Southern District of California rejected an insured’s attempt to expand a CGL policy’s definition of “suit” to encompass mere demands without...more
The insurance coverage analysis under a commercial general liability (“CGL”) insurance policy begins with the “insuring agreement.” The standard CGL policy provides coverage for “those sums that the insured becomes legally...more
Maxum Indemnity Co. v. Robbins Co., P.C., No. 1:17-CV-01968, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 57729 (N.D. Ohio Mar. 28, 2018) - On March 21, 2018, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio granted a motion...more
A federal judge in Connecticut recently dismissed claims against insurers related to their denial of a claim by two homeowners whose home’s foundation was crumbling. The case, Hyde v. Allstate Ins. Co., No. 3:18-cv-00031 (D....more
In Ohio N. Univ. v. Charles Constr. Servs., 2018 Ohio LEXIS 2375 (No. 2017-0514, October 9, 2018), the Supreme Court of Ohio was recently called upon to determine if a general contractor’s Commercial General Liability (CGL)...more
Satterfield & Pontikes Constr., Inc. v. United States Fire Ins. Co., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 21488 (5th Cir. Aug. 2, 2018) - This case arises out of an excess insurance provider’s refusal to cover damages incurred by the...more
An Insurer’s Guide to Reserving Rights: Tips for Avoiding Waiver and Estoppel - Insurers know all too well that the penalties for an ineffective reservation of rights letter can be severe...more
The interpretation of a property insurance policy may seem like a dull endeavor, but courts sometimes face fundamental questions about what words mean, or how we conceptualize cause and effect. In Taja Investments LLC v....more
The Supreme Court of Florida recently issued an opinion in Altman Contractors, Inc. v. Crum & Forster Specialty Ins. Co., No. SC16-1420, 2017 WL 6379535 (Fla. Dec. 14, 2017), which impacts an insurer’s duty to defend and...more
In Altman Contractors, Inc. v. Crum & Forster Specialty Ins. Co., 832 F.3d 1318 (11th Cir. 2016), the Eleventh Circuit certified the following question to the Florida Supreme Court: "Is the notice and repair process set forth...more
Ohio has joined the majority of jurisdictions in holding that a general liability policy may provide coverage for claims made by a project owner for property damage allegedly caused by the defective work of a subcontractor....more
The South Carolina Supreme Court recently took a firm stance on what constitutes a sufficient reservation of rights letter in Harleysville Group Insurance v. Heritage Communities, Inc., et al., — S.E.2d — , No. 2013-001281,...more