Hinshaw Releases Second Edition of Duty to Defend: A Fifty-State Survey
Loading and Unloading Under GL and Auto Policies: 2022
Prior & Pending Litigation
What is a Damron Agreement?
This insurance-coverage dispute involved alleged asbestos exposure from asbestos-containing vermiculite mined from Vermiculite Mountain outside of Libby, Mont. The court acknowledged that vermiculite ore may contain toxic...more
The United States District Court for the Northern District of California, applying California law, has held that a retroactive date endorsement limited coverage to $1 million if a claim involved wrongful acts occurring prior...more
In Home Depot Inc. v. Steadfast Insurance Co., Home Depot learned the hard way a rule every DIY enthusiast knows: measure twice, cut once. It appears Home Depot’s measurements were off when it sized up its insurance needs,...more
The foundation of a policyholder’s agreement to pay premiums for a standard commercial general liability policy (CGL) is the insurer’s agreement to defend the policyholder against lawsuits and shoulder the costs of the...more
Rodrigues v. Shelbourne Spring, LLC, No. A-39-23 (December 12, 2024) - In a unanimous decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court found Hartford Underwriters Insurance Company had no duty to defend the employer, SIR Electric LLC....more
We kick off the year with a quartet of state supreme court decisions and an intermediate appellate court ruling that has insurers breathing a harmonious sigh of relief. Policyholders and insurers often disagree over what the...more
On December 11, 2024, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas refused to allow extrinsic evidence under the Monroe conditions where plaintiff’s employment status and the merits of the case...more
An owner, general contractor (GC) and subcontractor (Sub) were sued by injured workers at a construction site, and they were defended by the Sub’s insurer, U.S. Specialty Insurance Company. U.S. Specialty tendered their...more
The insured punched and kicked the Claimant, causing injuries. The Claimant sued the insured alleging that the insured assaulted him, and negligently and recklessly caused his injuries. Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance...more
There’s been plenty of litigation over whether construction defect claims qualify for coverage under a CGL policy. This month, we discuss two federal circuit court rulings (First and Seventh Circuits) that reach opposite...more
Applying Washington state law, the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington has held that an insurer had a duty to defend a demand for payment under a vendor invoice for usage fees incurred due to...more
On October 7, 2024, the Hawaii Supreme Court, responding to questions certified by the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, determined that insurers had no duty to defend Aloha Petroleum ("Aloha") in two...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, applying Massachusetts law, has held that an insurer does not need to prove that it was prejudiced by the insured’s untimely notice to deny coverage under a...more
In a recent opinion, the District Court for the Northern District of Georgia has ordered an insurer to defend an insured hotel from allegations that it negligently or intentionally permitted a minor to be trafficked for sex...more
There must be something in the water or the plaintiff’s bar just had a conference where the keynote speaker addressed strategies for putting pressure on insurers by issuing time-limited demands (“TLD”) because we have been...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 U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, applying New Jersey law, has held that a misappropriation of funds exclusion unambiguously barred coverage for an accounting firm under its professional liability policy...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
The parent of an infant sued Kim Eichle for Eichle’s alleged negligence in serving alcohol to her houseguest, Jacob Russo, who allegedly assaulted the infant, and for negligence in failing to keep the sidewalk at her...more
Do you know which attorneys will represent your interests if your insurance provider has to defend you in litigation? You might be surprised. As a general rule, liability insurance policies – such as those held by family...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
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, applying Louisiana law, has held that an insurer does not need to cover a monetary judgment rendered in favor of two former employees of the insured...more
A federal district court, applying California law, has determined that an insurer owed a duty to defend because the policy’s retroactive date exclusion was ambiguous in that it could reasonably be interpreted to apply only to...more
The owners hired a general contractor (GC) insured by Amerisure to build a movie theatre, and the GC hired a masonry subcontractor (Sub) insured by Selective under a primary and umbrella policy...more
In City of Newport v. Westport Insurance Co., the Kentucky Court of Appeals addressed whether coverage existed for a malicious prosecution claim in a law enforcement liability policy that covered only periods of time during...more