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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Join us for Hinshaw's Webinar Series: Insurance Insights – What Insurers Need to Know in 2021. This series will feature insurance thought leaders from Hinshaw and RPC, presenting on the most pressing insurance claims topics...more
The Nevada Supreme Court held that insurers may seek reimbursement of defense costs if a court determines that it owed no duty to defend and the insurer reserved reimbursement rights. In Nautilus Insurance Company v....more
In our March Insurance Update, we discuss four state supreme court cases and four cybercrime cases. The state high courts address: •From whose perspective should a consent-to-settle provision be judged? •What standard...more
The Pennsylvania Superior Court recently issued a decision that should serve as a cautionary tale to those insurers looking to disclaim coverage after defending under a reservation of rights. In Selective Way Ins. Co. v. MAK...more
On March 20, 2020, the Illinois Appellate Court for the First District issued its decision in the case of West Bend Mutual Insurance Company v. Krishna Schaumburg Tan, Inc., 2020 IL App (1st) 191834, 2020 WL 191834, a...more
When an insurer pursues a judicial determination on its duty to defend and agrees to defend its insured retroactively only five months after its insured initially requested a defense, has it breached its duty to defend? In...more
The California Court of Appeal recently disposed of a novel attack on bad faith law launched by Zurich American Insurance Company. In Miller Marital Deduction Trust, et al. v. Zurich American Insurance Company, 2019 DJDAR...more
It’s a familiar story to anyone involved in insurance claims. A policyholder is sued and tenders the claim to its insurer. The insurer agrees to defend subject to a reservation of rights, but it also asserts that policy...more
In my most recent blogs (“Do you really need a court to tell you what the insurance policy covers? Litigating insurance coverage issues? When and how to turn to the courts”, Part 1 and Part 2), I addressed the various reasons...more
The Hypothetical Facts - Take the following hypothetical: A California company is sued in the Los Angeles Superior Court for personal injuries suffered by the driver of a vehicle that was injured in a crash involving the...more
The Current Precedent: Harleysville Group Insurance v. Heritage Communities, Inc. Only 15 months ago, in Harleysville Group Insurance v. Heritage Communities, Inc., the South Carolina Supreme Court fundamentally changed...more
In part one of this blog I discussed intervention, one option insurers may have when coverage questions arise. As I noted in my prior blog, procedures for intervention vary by state, and some states simply do not allow an...more
A lawsuit filed by Danielle Roland against Klub Kutter’s Bar & Lounge alleged that on September 6, 2015, Roland was a “business invitee” at Klub Kutter’s in Fort Lauderdale, Florida....more
In its recent decision in Temple Insurance Company v. Sazwan, the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta (Court) considered the scope of, and exceptions to, an insurer’s right and duty to defend. This is the first decision in...more