The Washington State Supreme Court significantly expanded the scope of potential hospital tort liability for the allegedly negligent actions of nonemployee, independently contracted emergency room service physicians, and...more
Courts don’t look kindly upon insurance company shell games. In Preferred Contractors Ins. Co. v. Baker & Son Construction, the Washington Supreme Court slapped down an insurer’s attempt to manipulate the type of general...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
Some important insurance decisions were handed down over the past month. We begin in Ohio, where public nuisance claims by state and local governments over opioids and lead paint were on full display. In Acuity, the...more
Yesterday, on December 10, 2020, the Supreme Court of Washington spoke: a bicyclist is a “pedestrian.” As a result, coverage was owed under an automobile policy. Many reading this do not handle claims under auto policies....more
In answer to the Ninth Circuit’s certified question, the Washington Supreme Court held in T-Mobile USA Inc. v. Selective Insurance Co. of America, Slip. Op. No. 96500-5, 2019 WL 5076647 (Wash. Oct. 10, 2019) that where an...more
In a closely contested 5-4 decision, the Washington Supreme Court held in Keodalah v. Allstate Insurance Company, et al., Slip. Op. No. 95867-0, ___ P.3d ___ (Oct. 3, 2019), that a claims adjuster cannot be held personally...more
Earlier today the Washington Supreme Court issued its highly-anticipated decision in Keodalah v. Allstate Insurance Company. The coverage community was anxiously waiting to learn if an employee claims adjuster could be sued...more
As Law360 recently reported, the South Carolina Supreme Court delivered a gift to insurers facing bad faith claims in that state. The court determined that, where a policyholder brings a bad faith claim against its insurer...more
Welcome to CICR’s annual review of insurance cases. Here, we spotlight five (actually, seven) decisions from the last year that you should know about, and five pending cases—all before state high courts—to keep an eye on. The...more
In a 2017 opinion, Xia v. ProBuilders Specialty Insurance Company, the Washington State Supreme Court analyzed whether an insurer breached its duty of good faith and fair dealing in refusing to defend its contractor insured...more
In Keodalah v. Allstate Insurance Company, the Washington Supreme Court is set to determine whether individual insurance adjusters (as distinguished from the insurers for which they work) may be sued for bad faith and...more
On May 9, 2018, in an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit held that the proverbial London Bridge should be near collapse for an insured owner to successfully obtain insurance coverage for same. In American Economy...more
• Relationships between insurer, insured and insurer-appointed defense counsel – also known as the "tripartite relationship" – have long been recognized as a potential source of conflicts of interest. By a 5-4 majority in...more
On July 6, 2017, the Washington Supreme Court confirmed that the equitable rule announced in Olympic Steamship—providing for attorney fees where the insurer compels the insured to take legal action—applies to performance bond...more
Professionals and practitioners in first party property insurance are likely familiar with the efficient proximate cause rule, which requires an insurance policy to provide coverage where “a covered peril sets in motion a...more
Washington - On April 27, 2017, the Washington Supreme Court ruled that carbon monoxide discharged from a hot water heater was a pollutant “acting as a pollutant” and within the absolute pollution exclusion of the home...more
The Washington Supreme Court just handed a defeat to Washington State liability insurers, holding that ProBuilders Specialty Insurance Company had a duty to defend a carbon monoxide poisoning case, notwithstanding a broad...more
Disputes involving “vacancy” exclusions typically involve the appropriate definition of that word. The recently-decided case of Lui v. Essex Ins. Co., 2016 Wash. LEXIS 692 (Wash. June 9, 2016) presents a somewhat different...more