NGE OnDemand: The Importance of Timely Reporting Occurrences, Claims and Suits to Insurers with Paul Walker-Bright
Hotels across the country in the past decade have experienced a wave of litigation under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). The law provides victims of certain human trafficking crimes with a...more
Our April update highlights some of the insurance questions courts were asked to decide this past month. We all know about the broad duty to defend that applies to many primary liability policies. But does that same rule...more
The U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, applying Illinois law, held that a commercial general liability policy did not provide coverage for a suit seeking compensation for costs associated with...more
In Hartford Casualty Insurance Co. v. Instagram LLC, the Delaware Superior Court granted the insurers’ motion for partial summary judgment, finding that various primary and excess general liability insurers had no duty to...more
Ohio Supreme Court clarifies that attorney-client privileged communications in an insurer’s claim file are discoverable only upon a prima facie showing of “bad faith” and a determination by the trial court, following an...more
In litigated claims, courts can lose their footing when it comes to determining the number of claims or occurrences at issue. The stakes are high. If there are multiple claims or occurrences, it could multiply available...more
The ongoing bellwether trial in California has brought renewed attention to an unprecedented wave of lawsuits targeting social media companies. These actions allege that major platforms are intentionally engineered to foster...more
K. Dyton v. A. Ahern, 2025 WL 3232911 (Del. Super. Ct. Nov. 19, 2025), re-argument denied, 2025 WL 3496991 (Del. Super. Ct. Dec. 5, 2025) - In what the court stated was a matter of first impression, the Delaware Superior...more
We begin this month’s update with a pair of cases from the Eleventh Circuit, which unfortunately, both involve claims arising from senseless shootings. The court first takes up the issue of number of occurrences in the...more
As the world confronts more mass shootings, these tragic events leave courts continuing to confront their effects on insurance coverage. A federal appeals court in Florida recently addressed the issue of how many...more
Courts considered some interesting insurance issues this past month. The Indiana Supreme Court lent a sympathetic ear to insurers facing multiple claims against a single policy by adopting a “safe harbor” provision for...more
In the aftermath of the Parkland school shooting in 2018, victims filed over sixty lawsuits against the Broward County Sheriff’s Office (“BCSO”) for failing to secure Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The BCSO tendered...more
The Missouri Court of Appeals, applying Missouri law, held that insurers had no duty to defend or indemnify a defense contractor in connection with a class action alleging failure to warn of groundwater contamination. Certain...more
Corrosion exclusions are not interpreted in the same manner on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Generally speaking, in the U.K., corrosion exclusions only apply to exclude the claim where the corrosion event was a gradual...more
When it comes to liability insurance, the distinction between intentional acts and negligence can have major implications for coverage—especially in cases involving violent conduct. A recent decision from the California Court...more
Jealous husbands, protection payments, defective earplugs, opioids, and abuse of process form the backdrop to our September Insurance Update. We begin with two cases from Delaware’s high court. The first reaffirms...more
Kane v. Syndicate 2623-623 Lloyd’s of London, 2025 N.M. App. LEXIS 38 (N.M. Ct. App. June 16, 2025) - New Mexico appeals court holds that the language of a cyber insurance policy providing liability coverage “for” a...more
“Arising out of” is a phrase commonly found in an insurance policy. It’s a broad phrase, and courts construe it that way. When this phrase appears in an exclusion, courts often apply a “but for” causation test. And that may...more
The Colorado Court of Appeals (Division VI), applying Colorado law, partially affirmed a trial court decision dismissing an action seeking insurance coverage for COVID‑19 related losses. Spectrum Retirement Communities, LLC...more
We’ve selected five recent insurance decisions for this month’s update. Foreign insurers will be pleased with the Second Circuit’s revamped view of the New York Convention. In finding that the international treaty is...more
Businesses and homeowners in Oregon often assume their insurance will cover a contractor’s faulty work. That assumption was put to the test in Twigg v. Admiral Insurance Co., 373 Or. 475 (2025), an Oregon Supreme Court...more
Asbestos fibers, chemical fumes, environmental pollutants—what do they have in common? They all involve injuries that manifest over time and are continuously at the center of the complex exposure trigger debate....more
Can AI or Chat GBT write poetry, perhaps by accident. But an insurance underwriter came up with the phrase: “Taking the suddenness out of accident.” Now that’s poetry. The poet was describing the “occurrence” definition in an...more
In a significant ruling, the Hawaii Supreme Court has determined that AIG is not required to provide coverage for a lawsuit against Sunoco subsidiary, Aloha Petroleum. The Hawaii court found a pollution exclusion in AIG’s...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