Matthew Ferrie, Partner, is back again to host the newest episode of the Subro Sessions podcast. Bert Davis, Principal for Romauldi, Davidson, & Associates and BDA Engineering, joins Matt for the second episode on...more
A recent ruling by the Tennessee Court of Appeals in Patton v. Pearson1 upheld the ‘Sutton Rule’ in a subrogation action following a house fire at a rental property. The court’s decision emphasizes the crucial role of lease...more
The United Nations recently described climate change as “the defining crisis of our time.” Further, a flagship UN report on climate change declared that the world is on a fast track to disaster because of rising carbon...more
Smoke taint has dominated the worries of the California wine industry recent years. With unsettled climate conditions and continued droughts, there is no reason to think that smoke taint will not continue to be a significant...more
In determining when the work product doctrine is triggered, the Northern District of Illinois recently held that, rather than adopting a bright-line rule, the issue should be decided on a case-by-case basis at the court’s...more
California is at the start of another dry year, with increased likelihood that the North Bay will experience another active fire season. Fires are always a risk and they are always unpredictable, spread quickly, and can...more
Insurers in South Carolina may now depreciate both labor costs and material costs when determining the “actual cash value” (ACV) owed to policyholders for property damage....more
Gables Construction, Inc. v. Red Coats, Inc., No. 23, 2020 BL 193791, 2020 MD LEXIS 264 (Md. May 26, 2020) - Upper Rock II, LLC (“Upper Rock”) contracted Gables Construction, Inc. (“GCI”) to construct a multi-building...more
When considering a claim’s subrogation potential, insurance carriers are often confronted with contractual waivers of subrogation that potentially bar the claim. One of the most common waivers carriers face are those...more
On the afternoon of Monday, May 4, 2020, the Five Mile Swamp fire broke out during a permitted, prescribed 240-acre burn in the Pensacola Bay Mitigation Bank located near Milton, Santa Rosa County, Fla. ...more
In Aquino v. United Property & Casualty Company, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court addressed the responsibilities of an insurer under a homeowners policy to an innocent insured homeowner when her fiancée — a coinsured...more
Most property insurance policies condition the payment of replacement cost value (RCV) on the property first being replaced or repaired, and courts typically enforce that requirement. ...more
In Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. Fowlkes Plumbing LLC, 17-cv-010-GHD-DAS, 2018 WL 842169 (N.D. Miss. Feb. 12, 2018), the District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi held that the subrogation waiver of...more
Vacancy exclusions are commonplace in many homeowner policies, and typically exclude coverage for certain types of losses if the home is vacant and/or unoccupied. Litigation involving vacancy exclusions can arise when terms...more
The wildfires that erupted across Northern California in the beginning of October have, according to the California Department of Insurance, damaged or destroyed more than 7,000 structures and have ravaged some of...more
Based upon the agreement of the parties, the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia vacated and withdrew the memorandum opinion previously issued by the Court in Shank v. Safeco Ins. Co. of...more
As the waters recede from Hurricane Irma, there are many issues for property insurers to consider as they adjust claims in Florida, including unique issues raised by assignment of benefits, Florida law on concurrent...more
As the waters recede from Hurricane Irma, property insurers have many issues to consider as they adjust claims in Florida. This alert discusses a few of those issues. Claims Reporting - The Florida Office of Insurance...more
In California FAIR Plan Assn. v. Garnes (No. A143190, filed 5/26/17), a California appeals court ruled that “total loss” under Insurance Code section 2051 refers to physical damage or loss, not the economic fact that the cost...more
In Fontana Builders, Inc. v. Assurance Company of America, Case No. 2014AP821, 2016 WL 3526408 (Wis. Jun. 29, 2016), the Wisconsin Supreme Court addressed whether the purchase of a homeowner’s policy by the occupiers and...more
Just before fireworks exploded across the sky to usher in 2016, a massive fire engulfed the Address Downtown Hotel in Dubai. At nearly 1,000 feet tall, this five-star hotel and luxury apartment building —with about 200 hotel...more
Someday the editors of this blog will have to create a “Hall of Shame” for most witheringly wrong-headed pieces of first-party property insurance jurisprudence, and a clear contender is a federal decision out of Illinois that...more
Two Years, Too Long for Coverage Under Claims-Made-and-Reported Policy - Why it matters: Claims-made-and-reported policies require that the claim be both made against the insured and reported to the insurer within the...more
Last month in what was a case of first impression in Tennessee, a unanimous panel of the state’s intermediate level appellate court joined those jurisdictions that have concluded that arson does not constitute a type of...more
On the Fourth of July in 2011, a fire damaged a nightclub in Beaumont, Texas. The fire was not unusual, but the lawsuits it generated—O’Quinn v. General Star Indemnity Company, No. 1:13-CV-471 (E.D. Tex. Aug. 5, 2014), and...more