Identifying and Quantifying Government Contract Claims
Can’t We All Just Get Along? Effective Ways to Navigate the Tri-Partite Relationship Among Policyholders, Insurers, and Insurer Chosen Defense Counsel
Settling a Claim: Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable
Reservation of Rights and the Insurer
In this episode of "Don’t Take No for an Answer," Lynda A. Bennett and Alexander B. Corson explore the complex issue of "allocation" in the context of defense costs in insurance claims. They discuss what steps to take when...more
On February 29, 2024, the Ninth Circuit issued its opinion in Lexington Insurance Co. v. Smith (Suquamish Tribe). The Court affirmed the tribal court’s subject-matter jurisdiction over Lexington pursuant to the Tribe’s...more
This is the first in a series of discussions about issues that arise on a regular basis after policyholders file an insurance claim. Many liability insurance policies require the insurer to defend the insured. This “duty...more
Civil Code section 2860 authorizes the retention of independent counsel in the event a conflict of interest arises between the insurer and its insured. Under the statute a conflict of interest is deemed to arise “when an...more
Courts took up some interesting insurance questions this past month. Here’s some we address in our June Insurance Update. When a government sponsored cyberattack infects computers worldwide, does the war exclusion apply? ...more
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, applying New York law, has held that an E&O insurer had no obligation to contribute toward the defense of an underlying matter in light of its policy’s...more
“We cannot enforce insurance provisions that render coverage so narrow it is illusory.” The Washington Supreme Court used this reasoning to hold that a contractor’s commercial general liability policy was unenforceable where...more
The Eastern District of Pennsylvania, applying Pennsylvania law, has held that a healthcare professional liability policy’s sexual abuse/misconduct sublimit applied to claims of negligent hiring and supervision against the...more
Where a liability carrier has assumed its insured’s defense under a reservation of rights, a variety of conflicts between those parties may arise when there are settlement discussions to resolve the underlying litigation....more
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, applying Florida law, has held that a policy’s “theft of funds exclusion” precluded coverage for an insured law firm under its professional liability...more
Second Circuit Holds That Insurer Precluded From Relying On Exclusions Because Unreasonably Delayed Disclaiming While Basis Was, Or Should Have Been, Apparent- In December 2015, Luis Alberto was working on a construction...more
The United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, applying Louisiana law, has held that material issues of fact precluded summary judgment that an insurer waived or was equitably estopped from raising...more
In situations where there is a dispute over a duty to defend, an insurer may provide a defense to its insured, subject to a reservation of rights, to not only deny coverage for a defense, but also to file a declaratory...more
A California federal court has held that neither sending a reservation of rights letter nor the mere filing of a suit seeking recission or declaratory relief while an insurer defends the insured amounts to a breach of an...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
A federal district court, applying California law, has held that an insurer owed a duty to defend and indemnify an insured in an underlying nuisance litigation under a not-for-profit D&O policy, as the policy’s pollution,...more
Many states have statutes or public policy that prohibits insurers from indemnifying policyholders for claims caused by their own willful acts. This is typical in the context of criminal acts or punitive damages, which many...more
The United States District Court for the District of South Dakota, applying South Dakota law, has held that an insured healthcare system was barred from settling without its healthcare liability insurer’s consent where the...more
Since the American Law Institute (ALI) voted in May 2018 to approve the final draft of its Restatement of the Law of Liability Insurance (RLLI), many have closely watched to see what impact, if any, the RLLI might have on the...more
Under a claims-made-and-reported insurance policy, an insurer may disclaim coverage if the insured fails to report a claim made against it to its insurer during the policy period (or extended reporting period). What happens,...more
In the defense of a claim, the relationship between the policyholder, the insurer, and the defense counsel, also known as the tri-partite relationship, is important. Though each party’s approach to settling a claim may be...more
September. Synonymous with back to school, the end of summer, and the start of the NFL season. And while the Cowboys and Bucs kicked off the season this year, another epic battle was brewing out west in the corridors of the...more
Although the time may be right to settle that underlying action, issues can arise when your insurer is not on the same page, especially if the insurer has agreed to defend the claim subject to a reservation of rights on...more
A recent federal appeals court case applying Utah law goes to the heart of the conflict that arises between a policyholder and insurer when an insurer defends a policyholder under a reservation of rights and receives a...more
In a 4-3 decision in Auto-Owners Insurance Co. v. Bolt Factory Loft Owners Association, Inc., the Colorado Supreme Court held that an insurer who is defending under a reservation of rights is not entitled to intervene where...more