In a unanimous ruling on Thursday, August 25 (Slip Opinion), the Washington Supreme Court added its voice to the developing “strong, if not unanimous” national consensus that COVID-19 and related government closures do not...more
Welcome to CICR’s annual review of insurance cases. Here, we spotlight five decisions from the last year that you should know about—and five pending cases to watch. As our picks for “Cases to Know” indicate, 2019 was not a...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On May 9, 2018, in an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit held that the proverbial London Bridge should be near collapse for an insured owner to successfully obtain insurance coverage for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
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
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