Insurer Must Indemnify Attorneys’ Fees Award as “Damages” In Starstone Ins. SE v. City of Chicago, No. 23-2712 (7th Cir. Apr. 02, 2025), the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit found the insurer had to pay $3.75M in attorneys’ fees that were part of an $18.75M civil rights settlement paid by the City of Chicago. The insurer argued that... Read More
Protopapas, Receiver for Starr Davis, Inc. and Starr Davis Company of S.C., Inc. v. Travelers Casualty, et al. South Carolina Court of Appeals, No. 2021-000648 (May 14, 2025) Starr Davis was a commercial insulation contractor that is named as a defendant in various asbestos bodily injury claims. The Starr Davis entities ceased doing business in 1997. A South Carolina Circuit... Read More
Insurer With Financial Responsibility Has Standing to Object to Kaiser Ch. 11 Reorganization Plan Kaiser Gypsum Co. and its parent, Hanson Permanente Cement, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy and submitted a Section 524(g) Reorganization Plan which would channel all present and future asbestos claims into a trust. The debtors proposed plan treated insured and uninsured claims differently. Under the proposed plan,... Read More
Vertical Exhaustion Applies in Continuous Injury Cases; Contribution Dispute between Insurers Remanded The California Supreme Court reversed the appellate court and unanimously held that “vertical exhaustion” applies in the continuous injury context under the standard language found in commercial general liability policies. It concluded that an insured may seek coverage from a first level excess policy upon the exhaustion of... Read More
Extraneous Facts Not Considered and Mention of Gross Negligence Not Enough in Determining Whether Insurer Has a Defense Duty The Appellate Court of Illinois for the First District, in an opinion by Justice Lyle applying Illinois law, held that State Auto Property & Casualty Insurance Company (“State Auto”) had no duty to defend its policyholder, Distinctive Foods, LLC (“Distinctive”), under... Read More
“Access or Disclosure” Exclusion Precludes Coverage for BIPA Lawsuits, But “Violation of Laws,” “Data Breach” and “ERP” Exclusions Do Not The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in an opinion written by Judge Easterbook, affirmed two lower court decisions concerning the scope of an insurer’s duty to defend its insured against allegations of the insured’s violations of... Read More
BIPA Statutory Overview Courts Interpret BIPA Liability and Damages Broadly Insurance Available for BIPA Claims BIPA Statutory Overview The Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”) presents substantial potential liability to any company doing business in the state. It provides for draconian damages for the use of biometric information that is commonplace in other states. Because Illinois’ BIPA statute is unique in that it... Read More
Violation-of-Law Exclusion Bars Coverage for BIPA Claim; Estoppel Does Not Apply The Illinois Appellate Court for the First District, in an opinion written by Judge Ellis, applying Illinois law, declined to follow a recent decision from the Seventh Circuit and determined that there were no coverage obligations for an underlying claim asserting violations of the Biometric Information Privacy Act, 740... Read More
Continuous Trigger Theory Applies to Long-Tail Claims The West Virginia Supreme Court, in response to a certified question from the Fourth Circuit, concluded that for “long-tail claims” the continuous trigger theory applies to determine when bodily injury occurs under an occurrence-based CGL policy. The continuous trigger is appropriate because the policy language is ambiguous as to when coverage is triggered... Read More
Inadvertent Construction Defects are an Occurrence The Illinois Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Chief Justice Theis, issued a landmark decision under Illinois law and held property damage that results from inadvertent faulty work can be caused by an “accident” and therefore constitute an “occurrence” for purposes of the initial grant of coverage under a CGL insuring agreement. Additionally,... Read More
