Earlier this month, wildfires tore through the Island of Maui. While the fires affected an estimated 17,000 acres, the town of Lahaina was hit the hardest, leaving over 114 people dead and another 850 missing. More recently,...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
Winter, spring, summer, fire season, and fall – as Californians, we have all become accustomed to a fifth season – fire season. Even worse, fire season was once confined to just a few months, but now is a threat for most of...more
Texas practitioners can add a new term to their legal vocabulary: “the Monroe exception.” The Texas Supreme Court has finally weighed in on whether to create an exception to the eight corners rule when determining if an...more
Unfortunately, we again write while wildfire is devouring homes and businesses in Napa and Sonoma, and threatening many more. We’ve previously posted tips about first steps that you should take in the event your business has...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 Youell v. Cincinnati Ins. Co., 2018 Ind. App. LEXIS 497 (2018), the Court of Appeals of Indiana considered whether a landlord’s carrier could bring a subrogation claim against a commercial tenant for fire-related damages...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
If your business has sustained a fire loss, below are steps for you to take in working with your insurers to ensure that you receive the maximum benefits under any applicable insurance policies....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
Last Friday, a unanimous panel of the Ninth Circuit held that loss from the excluded peril of mudslide occurring one month after a wildfire could be covered as the “direct” result of the blaze. In Stankova v. Metropolitan...more