Virginia Law School Demands Lawsuit Coverage

Liberty University’s law school wants a judge to force its insurance company to pay for its defense in a lawsuit stemming from a same-sex-marriage custody battle.

Virginia Lawyer’s Weekly reports that the school claims in Lynchburg federal court that Hanover Insurance Co. wrongly denied coverage in the lawsuit filed by Janet Jenkins in Vermont.

Jenkins contends Liberty’s agents conspired to aid the 2009 disappearance of then-10-year-old Isabella Miller. The girl and her birth mother, Lisa Miller, fled to Nicaragua with the help of a Virginia pastor who was convicted last summer of aiding an international kidnapping.

Hanover says it doesn’t owe coverage because Jenkins’ lawsuit does not claim bodily injury under its policies.

Liberty contends Jenkins’ emotional distress claim falls within the scope of the policy’s “bodily injury” definition.