News & Analysis as of

Contract Interpretation Insurance Litigation

Zelle  LLP

Any is Not All and The Future is Not Now: The Contours of the Cosmetic Damage Exclusion Taking Shape

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In Iyengar v. Liberty Insurance Corporation, No. SA-21-CV-1091-FB, 2024 WL 5505300 (W.D. Tex. Dec. 13, 2024), District Judge Biery denied Plaintiffs’ Motion for Clarification regarding Magistrate Judge Bemporad’s...more

Rivkin Radler LLP

COVID Biz Interruption Coverage Denied by NY Court of Appeals

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On February 15, 2024, the New York Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the Appellate Division, First Department decision affirming dismissal of restaurant operator Consolidated Restaurant Operations, Inc.’s (CRO) complaint...more

Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP

Confined to the Four Corners by the Rules of Contract Interpretation

A Review of Shiloh Christian Center v. Aspen Specialty Insurance Company - The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that the plain text of an insurance policy trumps the parties’ subjective intent and...more

Pillsbury - Policyholder Pulse blog

A Missing Issue in “Blank Space” Insurance Ruling

Insurance coverage disputes often turn on the meaning of the specific words used in a policy. Norwegian Hull Club v. North Star Fishing Co., currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida,...more

Jenner & Block

Client Alert: First Circuit Parses Underlying Complaint to Find Duty to Defend and to Defeat Exclusions

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The duty of a liability insurer to defend a policyholder from litigation is typically described as broad and expansive, extending beyond the insurer’s duty to indemnify. The duty to defend generally obliges an insurer to...more

Carlton Fields

Fifth Circuit Leans on Well-Established Contractual Interpretation Doctrine to Preclude Coverage Under General Liability Policy

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To paraphrase Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., a case “which appeals to the feelings and distorts the judgment” makes bad law. In the face of exceptionally tragic circumstances, however, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals...more

Carlton Fields

New York Federal Court Denies Reinsurer’s Motions for New Trial and Judgment as a Matter of Law, Modifies Accrual Date for...

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In a matter previously covered in this blog, the Northern District of New York was asked to determine whether Clearwater Insurance Co. (the reinsurer) was entitled to a new trial, a judgment as a matter of law, or an...more

Farella Braun + Martel LLP

The War Exclusion in a Time of War

The “war” exclusion has gotten more attention over the past couple of weeks in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. For good reason. This exclusion, common in property and liability policies alike, typically eliminates...more

Jenner & Block

Is There a Limit to Insurer Unwillingness to Cover Claims for Unsolicited Marketing Communications? Two Decisions by the Seventh...

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Among the many unusual aspects of 2021 is that the same insurance company was before a federal appellate court on two separate but contemporaneous cases – one in which the insurer was asserting a lack of insurance coverage...more

Quarles & Brady LLP

2021 Wisconsin Insurance Case Law Year in Review

Quarles & Brady LLP on

Every year, Quarles & Brady’s Insurance Recovery Team compiles a list of important decisions by Wisconsin state and federal courts addressing insurance issues. We then summarize the cases to keep you informed of developments...more

Hinshaw & Culbertson - Insights for Insurers

The Bell Tolls For the "Bellefonte Cap"

In 2016, Best's Review published our article titled "The Bellefonte Cap Returns." As we explained, the Cap stemmed from the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1990 in Bellefonte Reinsurance Co. v....more

Cozen O'Connor

Ninth Circuit Holds COVID-19 Business Interruption Losses Require Direct Physical Damage To The Property

Cozen O'Connor on

In March 2020, Mudpie Inc.—a San Francisco children’s store—ceased operations when California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered all “non-essential” businesses to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the shut-down,...more

Lowenstein Sandler LLP

Coverage Litigation Leapfrog: Why Venue Matters and How to Avoid Pre-emptive Strike Actions

Lowenstein Sandler LLP on

With insurance policies being governed by state law, and interpretation varying from state to state, where your lawsuit is venued matters. There is a cyclical history of insurers and policyholders strategically filing suits...more

Cozen O'Connor

Eleventh Circuit Becomes Second Federal Appellate Court To Hold No Coverage For COVID-19 Business Losses

Cozen O'Connor on

In the second federal appellate ruling on Covid-19 business losses, the Eleventh Circuit has joined the Eighth Circuit in holding that they do not trigger coverage because they do not involve “physical loss” or “physical...more

Cozen O'Connor

Fifth Circuit Finds Potential Coverage for Data Breach; Interprets “Publication” Broadly

Cozen O'Connor on

Using general contract interpretation principles, the Fifth Circuit reversed summary judgment in favor of an insurer and found a duty to defend Landry’s in a data breach lawsuit. Landry’s Inc. v. The Insurance Company of the...more

BCLP

Briefcase Quarterly Update: Key Real Estate Cases - March 2021

BCLP on

The Financial Conduct Authority v Arch Insurance (UK) Ltd and others [2021] UKSC 1 - What was it about? ..The Supreme Court gave its view on various business interruption insurance policy clauses. ..The case was...more

Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP

The Unpredictable Of Florida's Supposedly Predictable Choice-Of-Law Test

For purposes of determining contract interpretation, Florida courts apply the lex loci contractus choice-of-law rule. The Supreme Court of Florida observed that lex loci contractus is an “inflexible rule” that exists “to...more

BCLP

Supreme Court hands down its judgment in the COVID-19 Business Interruption Insurance Test Case

BCLP on

The UK Supreme Court in the Test Case on Business Interruption Insurance brought by the FCA on behalf of policyholders has decided that the FCA’s appeal (on behalf of policyholders) should be substantially allowed, with...more

Cooley LLP

Blog: Supreme Court Finds in Favour of Policyholders in FCA COVID-19 Test Case

Cooley LLP on

This morning the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in the FCA COVID-19 test case, heard on a leapfrog appeal (bypassing the Court of Appeal) from the first instance decision of Lord Justice Flaux and Mr. Justice Butcher....more

Zelle  LLP

Spa Virus Coverage Ruling Misses The Mark

Zelle LLP on

In response to the wave of litigation over COVID-19-related business income claims, an overwhelming majority of courts considering the relevant policy language — approximately 80% — have found no coverage as a matter of law...more

BCLP

What to expect from the FCA Test Case appeal to the Supreme Court

BCLP on

On 16 November all eyes will turn to the Supreme Court as a 4-day hearing commences to determine the appeals of the FCA, the Hiscox Action Group, and six of the original eight insurers who were party to the FCA’s Test Case. ...more

Gould + Ratner LLP

Policyholders See New Developments in COVID-19 Case Law

Gould + Ratner LLP on

Insurers across the nation continue to file motions to dismiss COVID-19 cases brought by policyholders on three primary grounds: 1. there is no” physical loss or damage” to the covered property, 2. there is no “prohibition...more

Carlton Fields

Eleventh Circuit Finds Fuel Thefts Separated by “Time and Space” Constitute Separate Occurrences Needing Separate Deductibles...

Carlton Fields on

A common issue arising in the interpretation of both liability and first party property policies is the determination of whether one or more “occurrences” are involved in any given claim or loss. The resolution of this issue...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

What’s Behind the Green Door?

Troutman Pepper Locke on

We don’t expect many of you to remember a 1950’s song (as most weren’t yet born!), What’s Behind the Green Door.* The vocalist, Jim Lowe, was certainly not thinking about insurance when he sang it, but in the insurance world...more

Carlton Fields

The No Corners Rule? New York Federal Court Holds No Duty to Defend Where There Is No Possible Legal or Factual Basis for...

Carlton Fields on

Under New York law, an insurer’s duty to defend ends if it establishes as a matter of law that there is no possible factual or legal basis on which it might eventually be obligated to indemnify its insured. This rule was...more

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