News & Analysis as of

Contract Interpretation Policy Terms

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Beware Misuse of Related-Claims Deemer Clauses in Claims-Made Policies

The hallmark of a claims-made liability policy is coverage exclusively for claims “first made” during the policy period, thus limiting the insurer’s risk to new claims asserted against the policyholder during a finite time...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

Carlton Fields

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

Carlton Fields on

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

Jenner & Block

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

Jenner & Block on

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

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

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

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

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

Hinshaw & Culbertson - Insights for Insurers

The Latest Decision in the Global Re Case: On Treatment of Expenses under Facultative Reinsurance Certificates

The Bellefonte Cap - The Bellefonte Cap is a shorthand reference to the "reinsurance accepted" limit set forth in a facultative certificate generally capping the reinsurer's obligations with respect to loss and expense...more

Farella Braun + Martel LLP

“That Particular Part” – Yet 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

Pillsbury - Policyholder Pulse blog

Dictionary Guides Court in Multimillion-Dollar Coverage Dispute

A little under two years ago, we wrote about the fatal Oxford comma—you know, the one that comes before “and” in a list—and the impact of its omission on a court’s interpretation of a Maine employment statute. The court...more

Robinson+Cole Property Insurance Coverage...

Period of Restoration and Extended Business Interruption Coverage: District of New Jersey Decision Provides Useful Insight

The United States District Court, District of New Jersey recently issued a decision that is helpful in defining the scope of business interruption coverage with respect to “period of restoration” and extended business income...more

Carlton Fields

Special Focus: The Reinsurance Follow the Fortunes Doctrine: Purely Contractual or Always Present?

Carlton Fields on

The follow the fortunes (or follow the settlements) doctrine has been an important part of many reinsurance relationships. This Special Focus article focuses on divergent case law as to whether the doctrine is purely a matter...more

Robinson+Cole ERISA Claim Defense Blog

Ninth Circuit "Interprets" Accident Plan; "Direct and Sole Cause" Doesn't Mean What It Says

In Dowdy v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., 16-15824, 2018 U.S. App. Lexis 12648 (9th Cir. May 16, 2018), the Ninth Circuit ruled that an accident plan that covers “accidental injury that is the Direct and Sole Cause of a Covered Loss”...more

Robinson+Cole ERISA Claim Defense Blog

Fifth Circuit Joins Sister Circuits by Overruling Default Deferential Standard of Review

In Ariana M. v. Humana Health Plan of Tex., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 5227, *5, 2018 WL 1096980 (March 1, 2018) (“Ariana M. II”), a majority of judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in an en banc decision,...more

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