Standard liability policies typically contain an exhaustion clause that establishes that the primary insurer’s duty to defend terminates upon the payment of the insurer’s policy limits through a formal settlement or satisfaction of judgment of claims asserted against the insured. …
It is well known that courts require insurers to defend their insured if there is any possibility that coverage may potentially exist. Under New York law, the duty to defend is triggered whenever the allegations of a complaint, liberally construed, …
An interesting case was just decided by the District Court in Texas (Southern District) in Evanston Ins. Co. v. Gene By Gene, Ltd., 2016 WL 102294 (filed Jan. 6, 2016). In Gene by Gene, the insured, Gene by Gene, Ltd., …
In Moore v. GEICO General Ins. Co., 2016 WL 736824 (11th Cir., Feb. 19, 2016), the United States Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a District Court grant of summary judgment in favor of GEICO in a bad faith set-up …
By statute, automobile liability insurance companies are barred from excluding coverage for personal injuries caused to a named insured under Connecticut law. See, Conn. Gen. Stat. (Rev. to 2009) § 38a-335(d). However, the Connecticut statute contains an exception which permits …
The Illinois Court of Appeals recently considered whether an insurance company was obligated to defend its insured in a wrongful death claim involving methadone intoxication notwithstanding the fact that the insurer’s homeowner policy contained a controlled substance exclusion. In Skolnik …
The purpose of insurance is to protect insureds against unknown, fortuitous risks, and the purpose of insurance policies is not to insure liability incurred prior to the policy issuance. Because of this, modern general liability policies often contain a known-loss …
Insuring clauses of many insurance policies obligate the insurance company to indemnify the insured for sums that the insured is “legally obligated to pay as damages …” Long ago, insurance company challenged covenants not to execute that were used as …
In certification from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington in Heidi Kroeber v. GEICO Ins. Co., 2016 WL 166528 (Wash. Ct. App., decided Jan. 14, 2016), the Washington Supreme Court, answered the District Court’s certified question …
Typical legal malpractice policies do not provide coverage for the disgorgement of attorney’s fees that were received by the insured attorney during the representation that gives rise to the malpractice claim. However, recently the United States District Court in Louisiana …