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Summary Judgment Appeals Insurance Litigation

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Ninth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment for Allstate in Bad Faith Claim

In an issue of first impression, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for Allstate and held that the two-year statute of limitations for bad faith claims arising out of an uninsured/underinsured...more

Steptoe & Johnson PLLC

Fourth Circuit Sets Forth the Requirements for the ‘Loss of Chance’ Provision of West Virginia’s Medical Professional Liability...

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The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently interpreted the “loss of chance” provision of West Virginia’s Medical Professional Liability Act (the MPLA). In Graham v. Dhar, the Court ruled that a...more

Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP

Indiana Rejects Subrogation Waiver Argument Where Contractor Performed Work At The Request Of Another

In U.S. Automatic Sprinkler Corp. v. Erie Insurance Exchange, 21A-CT-580, 2022 WL 906142 (Ind. Ct. App. Mar. 29, 2022), the Indiana Court of Appeals held that a subrogation waiver in an insured’s maintenance contract did not...more

Cozen O'Connor

Fifth Circuit Weighs in on Aftermath of Texas Supreme Court’s Decisions Affecting Insurers’ Pre-Appraisal Award Payments and...

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Just a few short years ago, there was a bright line rule under Texas law concerning appraisal awards. If an insurer timely paid an appraisal award, that payment extinguished all of the insurer’s contractual and...more

White and Williams LLP

Eleventh Circuit Finds No Bad Faith Where Insurer Failed to Provide “Mirror-Image” Response to Claimant’s Demand

In Florida, an insurer is required to work diligently on the insured’s behalf to avoid an excess judgment, with the “same haste and precision as if it were in the insured’s shoes”. Harvey v. GEICO General Insurance Company,...more

Cozen O'Connor

Claims Handling: Questions Are the Answer

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The key issue in insurance bad faith litigation is whether the claims professional reasonably handled the claim. Throughout the claims-handling process, the claims professional should constantly ask him-or-herself whether the...more

Rumberger | Kirk

4th DCA Reinforces Burden is on Plaintiff to Prove Actual or Constructive Notice in Slip and Falls

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A recent Fourth District Court of Appeal ruling illustrates how defendants in premises liability cases can posture themselves for success at the summary judgment stage by implementing and complying with comprehensive...more

Carlton Fields

The Three “Musts” for a Competent Affidavit or Declaration

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Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal recently issued a decision that serves as a reminder not to take for granted a proposition that most practicing attorneys regularly encounter: a motion for summary judgment must be...more

White and Williams LLP

PTSD May Be Covered As “Bodily Injury” If It Resulted From Physical Injuries, Pennsylvania Appeals Court Holds

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It has long been the rule in Pennsylvania that a mental or psychological injury generally does not constitute “bodily injury,” as defined in most standard insurance policies, unless that mental or psychological injury results...more

Carlton Fields

Eleventh Circuit Rejects Insurer-Defended Policyholder’s Bid to Expand Florida’s Bad Faith “Excess Judgment Rule” to Include...

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In Cawthorn v. Auto-Owners Insurance Co., No. 18-12067 (11th Cir. Oct. 25, 2019), the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Auto-Owners...more

Carlton Fields

Look No Further Than the Insuring Clause: Ill-Gotten Gains Do Not Constitute Covered “Loss”

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On August 26, 2019, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, applying Florida Law, held that ill-gotten gains do not constitute covered “loss” within the meaning of a D&O policy. In Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Co. v. Sabal...more

Farella Braun + Martel LLP

3 Lessons For Calif. Insureds From Late-Notice Rule Decision

In Pitzer College v. Indian Harbor Insurance Company, the California Supreme Court resolved two previously open questions in insurance law: (1) it concluded that the notice-prejudice rule is a fundamental public policy of...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Notifying Your Excess Insurers: Don’t Let an Insurer Gamble with Your Company’s Bottom Line

Informed insureds know the importance of notifying their primary insurer of an occurrence or a claim. But notice to the primary layer often does not suffice. If the plaintiff’s demand exceeds the limits in the primary...more

Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP

Reminder Why Injured Claimants Must be Named in Declaratory Judgment Complaint

In Direct Auto Insurance Company v. Bahena, et al., 2019 IL App (1st) 172918, the Illinois Appellate Court sifted through a procedural nightmare in order to get to the very sensical conclusion that “It cannot be the case that...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

Appeals in Insurance Litigation – Appreciating Standards of Review

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It is said that the first rule of a successful appeal is to win in the trial court. But, regardless of winning or losing in the trial court, one of the most important considerations in evaluating exposure and the likelihood...more

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

Loss of Use can be “Property Damage” under Insurance Policies

General liability insurance policies normally cover “property damage.” Physical injury to, or outright destruction of, property almost always fits within policy coverage. But what about situations when the property is not...more

Carlton Fields

Clearing The Air: Tenth Circuit Strikes Down An Indoor Air Quality Exclusion, Citing Ambiguity

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Ambiguity strikes again. While the heavily litigated pollution exclusion is well-known in the insurance world, its progeny—the indoor air exclusion—only recently has started making its way around the block. ...more

Butler Snow LLP

Contracts May “Legally” Obligate a Party to Pay, Even Without a Court Judgment

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Time and again, courts have been tasked with construing ambiguous and inconsistent terms in contracts. Recently, the Sixth Circuit revisited the issue of interpreting contractual language in Dark Horse Express, LLC v. Lancer...more

Carlton Fields

Reinsurer’s Summary Judgment Upheld On Motion For Rehearing

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Capitol Life Insurance Co. moved the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas for rehearing of the court’s prior affirmance of summary judgment against Capitol in favor of MetLife Insurance Company USA, MetLife...more

Carlton Fields

California Appeals Court Upholds Summary Judgment Against Insured’s Attempt To Pierce Insurer’s Corporate Veil

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A California state appellate court recently upheld summary judgment in favor of an insurer in a dispute about the value of fine art paintings over the insured’s attempts to pierce the insurer’s corporate veil. ...more

Carlton Fields

Eleventh Circuit Applies Realignment Doctrine to Undo Years of Coverage Litigation Between Primary and Excess Insurers

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In St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, PA, No. 16-12015 (11th Cir. May 29, 2018), a battle between excess and primary carriers, the Eleventh Circuit applied the so-called...more

Jaburg Wilk

Arizona Court of Appeals Holds Anti-Stacking Provision Inapplicable in Policies Issued by "Affiliated Insurers"

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The Holding - In Hanfelder v. Geico Indem. Co., WL 2018 WL 2315949 (May 22, 2018), the Arizona Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment granted to an Insurer because the Policy’s “imprecise” anti-stacking language did...more

White and Williams LLP

Texas Court of Appeals Confirms That, in Order to “Bring Suit” Within the Statute of Limitations Period, a Plaintiff Must Exercise...

In Molina v. Gears, 2018 Tex. App. LEXIS 1978 (March 20, 2018), the Texas Court of Appeals addressed the issue of whether a plaintiff who timely-filed a complaint exercised due diligence with respect to serving the complaint....more

Carlton Fields

Plaintiffs’ Notice That the ‘Taxman Cometh’ Was Sufficient to Trigger Statute of Limitations

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In a November 16, 2017 ruling, a California appellate court affirmed a summary judgment ruling in favor of several financial advisors, and insurer American General Life Insurance Company, holding that plaintiffs’ fraud and...more

Carlton Fields

Dot The I’s And Cross The T’s: The Importance Of Clarity In Claim Communications And The Availability Of Punitive Damages For An...

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The Georgia Court of Appeals recently made waves in Hughes v. First Acceptance Insurance Company of Georgia, Inc., 343 Ga. App. 693 (2017). First, it aggrandized the role of a jury in determining the existence of an offer to...more

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