Anticipatory Filing Exception to “First to File” Rule The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, in an opinion written by Judge John Robert Blakey, applying the federal rules of civil procedure, dismissed declaratory judgment lawsuits filed by Coherent Economics, LLC (“Coherent”) and by Bradford Cornell and San Marino Business Partners LLC (together as “Cornell”) against Verition... Read More
Adopts Pro Rata Allocation with Unavailability Rule for Asbestos Bodily Injury Claims The Court of Appeals of Maryland, the state’s highest court, granted a writ of certiorari directly after a circuit court decision and upheld that court’s decision to allocate an insurer’s liability for a judgement against its insured via “pro rata” time on the risk allocation across the years... Read More
No Independent Cause of Action for Deficient FRCP 26 Disclosures Even if Induced Settlement The 7th Circuit, in an opinion written by Judge Brennan, reversed the district court and held that failure to disclose insurance coverage under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26 cannot give rise to a cause of action for negligent misrepresentation about available insurance coverage. A fatal... Read More
Reinstates Zurich’s Death Benefit Denial Due to Possibility was Caused by Pre-Existing Cardiac Condition and Not Car Accident Even if Not “Best Reading” of Policy The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed the District Court’s finding that American Insurance Company’s (“Zurich”) denial of accidental death benefits was arbitrary and capricious. The First Circuit found Zurich’s... Read More
Claim by 3rd Party Shot During Murder-Suicide Triggers Duty to Defend The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, applying Pennsylvania law, affirmed the opinion of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania and held that Erie Insurance had a duty to defend the estate of its insured in a personal injury lawsuit. According to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the shooting of a third... Read More
Policyholder Cannot Target One Insurer with “Those Sums” language if Record Provides Factual Basis to Accurately Spread Between Triggered Years In response to a certified question from an Ohio federal district court, the Ohio Supreme Court declined to equate policy language obligating AIG / National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh to pay “those sums” with policies that contain “all... Read More
“Vertical Exhaustion” of Long-Tail Claims Allowed for Excess Coverage In a unanimous ruling, the California Supreme Court, applying California law, held “vertical exhaustion” is appropriate when continuous injury occurs over the course of multiple policy periods for which an insured purchased multiple layers of excess insurance. Thus, a policyholder is entitled to access otherwise available coverage under any excess policy... Read More
“Attorney Fee Exclusion” Inapplicable Even Though Attorney’s Fees the Measure of Alleged Damages In an opinion written by Justice Cunningham, with Justices Connors and Harris concurring, the First District Appellate Court of Illinois, applying Illinois law, found that ISBA Mutual Insurance Company (“ISBA Mutual”) had a duty to defend its insured, a lawyer accused of malpractice, reversing a lower court’s... Read More
Disclosure to 3rd Party a “Publication” – “Violation of Statutes” Exclusion Not Applicable to BIPA Claim The Illinois Appellate Court for the First District, in an opinion written by Justice Mikva with Justices Connor and Harris concurring, applying Illinois law, affirmed the Circuit Court’s ruling and held that the insurer had a duty to defend claims for violations of the... Read More
Issues Facing Senior Care Policyholders Long-term care providers may be facing a “Perfect Storm” of tort and insurance risk. First, it was the ongoing assault on profit margins by regulation, “social inflation” in jury awards, and plaintiffs’ attorneys who have targeted the industry. And now, these risks are about to merge into the coronavirus crisis, creating virtually overnight existential risk... Read More
