The Standard Formula Podcast | Understanding Insurance Resolution Regimes
In this month’s update, we discuss Russian-seized planes, Starbucks-caused traffic jams, a squabble over the use of a family name, a restaurant’s pandemic-based loss, a poorly built house, and whether insurance covers any of...more
In a recent New York Court of Appeals opinion, the court found that business losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic were not covered under an “all-risk” commercial property insurance policy. In Consolidated Rest. Operations,...more
The New York Supreme Court recently weighed in on what constitutes “reasonable care” to maintain heat in the context of a first-party insurance policy exclusion requiring such reasonable care. In Michael Zimmerman v....more
The coverage dispute in Home Depot, Inc., et al v. Steadfast Insurance Company, et al. arises out of a 2014 data breach of millions of Home Depot’s customers’ payment information. As a result of the breach, the financial...more
The close of 2023 solidified trends in established class action theories and provided a glimpse of new theories to come. In the auto total loss valuation sphere, one that has seen a lot of action for many years,...more
In a unanimous opinion issued yesterday, the New Jersey Supreme Court joined the majority of other courts to hold that business interruption losses related to the COVID-19 pandemic are not covered under the standard language...more
In most property insurance coverage litigation, the parties engage experts to elucidate the issues in the case. This is particularly true when there are multiple causes of loss, covered and not covered, that combine to cause...more
In this episode of “Don't Take No for an Answer,” host Lynda A. Bennett is joined by David Anderson, Vice President of Cyber at Woodruff Sawyer, and Heather Weaver, counsel in Lowenstein’s Insurance Recovery Group, to discuss...more
Insurance partner Rob Chaplin is joined by colleague Lamya Al-Yazdi as they introduce our “Standard Formula” listeners to the three emergent insurance resolution regimes that deal with the failure, or potential failure, of...more
All eyes are on the New Jersey Supreme Court as we await oral arguments on the latest business interruption coverage dispute. In the lawsuit, an Atlantic City casino, Ocean Walk, seeks reimbursement for costs incurred during...more
“Highly protected risk” (HPR) is an insurance industry term referring to a risk that has been controlled and managed through various measures....more
In the recent decision in Q Clothier New Orleans LLC v. Twin City Fire Insurance Co., the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of an insured’s claim for coverage under a property policy for loss arising from...more
Reversing the New York Appellate Division, First Department, the New York Court of Appeals, in a 6–1 landmark decision, held that a $140 million disgorgement payment is an insured "loss," after a long history of insurance...more
When COVID-19 ground the world to a halt, policyholders and insurance-coverage attorneys made predictions about the effectiveness of insurance against coronavirus-related losses. And the outlook wasn’t great. This article...more
Along with seeking to analogize COVID-19 physical loss or damage to that in the fumes or contaminants context, policyholders are now also attempting to rely on cases discussing the bounds of physical loss or damage in the...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently affirmed the dismissal of a policyholder’s COVID-19 insurance coverage action in Santo’s Italian Café LLC v. Acuity Insurance Co., No. 21-3068 (6th Cir. Sept. 22,...more
One year ago, when the COVID-19 pandemic ground the world to a halt, our firm’s virtual offices were inundated with calls from policyholders, asking if their current and projected losses due to the pandemic would be covered...more
The tidal wave of favorable rulings for insurers in COVID-19 business interruption insurance coverage lawsuits that started in 2020 is continuing in 2021. As this blog has previously explained, commercial property insurance...more
On Dec. 9, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issued a favorable ruling for policyholders related to COVID-19 business interruption claims. The case is Elegant Massage, LLC v. State Farm Mutual...more
Following up on our prior discussion of Studio 417, Inc., et al. v. The Cincinnati Ins. Comp., a different federal judge in the Western District of Missouri recently ruled in Zwillo V, Corp. v. Lexington Insurance Co. that a...more
As we wrote about in a recent article, the trends in insurance coverage for COVID-19 related losses are: 1) so far insurers are winning, and 2) the cases are fact intensive and turn on policy and pleading language. As we...more
Companies in the United States continue to file business interruption lawsuits against their insurers for claims arising from state and local government shutdown orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At least 1,250...more
The stark effects of the coronavirus pandemic are conspicuously clear in downtown Chicago: Shuttered businesses that once catered to throngs of commuters and office workers loom over bare sidewalks, while trains fly by with a...more
COVID-19 has forced ski slopes to cease operation, compelled people to cancel trips of all kinds, and closed many summer camps. Attempts by insureds to obtain refunds or otherwise recoup the money they paid in connection with...more
In Balfour Beatty Construction, LLC v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company, No. 19-20216 (August 3, 2020), the Fifth Circuit determined that Liberty Mutual’s policy does not cover a construction company’s claim for window...more