Wesley Todd News

Document Assembly and Automation: Making Easy Things Easy

Series Summary Insurance executives should be asking a lot of questions right now. They should wonder why their outside law firms haven’t adopted available technology that could eliminate exorbitant expenses for routine legal work. They should ask their outside law …

Litigation Project Management: Building Your Homeowners Insurance Litigation Skyscraper

Series Summary Insurance executives should be asking a lot of questions right now. They should wonder why their outside law firms haven’t adopted available technology that could eliminate expenses for routine legal work. They should ask their law firms why, …

Property Insurers Must Take the Lead on Legal Project Management Software Innovations

Over the past ten years, emails have taken over. Particularly in claims litigation, emails are generated by attorneys and claims professionals faster than an assembly line at a factory. What was once thought to be a technological innovation has now …

Sebo v. American Home Assurance Company

The Return of the Efficient Proximate Cause Doctrine in Florida Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal recently revived an old debate regarding whether coverage is available for damages caused by independent excluded and covered causes in the case of Sebo …

The ‘Marring’ Exclusion Makes Its Way Across Florida

In July 2013, Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal held in Ergas v. Universal Property & Casualty that there is no coverage for tile damage caused by a dropped object. Since then, Florida’s Second and Third Districts have issued similar …

Sinkhole ‘Structural Damage’ Definition Sliding in Insurers’ Favor

An ongoing debate in sinkhole claims and litigation is whether the legislature intended for Florida insurers to provide coverage for sinkhole activity that causes aesthetic damage only. In 2005, the legislature enacted Section 627.706, requiring that insurers provide coverage for …

Corporate Representative Depositions: Should the Insurance Company Have a Voice?

When litigating the insurance policy provisions, no one is surprised when an insured’s attorney requests the deposition of an insurer’s corporate representative. Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.380 (b)(6) allows a party to request a corporation to designate a corporate …

Compliance with the Examination Under Oath Request: A Must or a Maybe?

For decades, if an insured did not comply with an insurer’s request for an examination under oath (“EUO”), the insurer was entitled to summary judgment finding that there was no coverage for the claim. In 2012, however, in Whistler’s Park, …

Estop it Right There: Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and Property Claims

An insured’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy is an interesting and often unexplored issue that can have a large impact on an insurer’s potential liability. If an insured has filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code, he or she …

Making a House a Home: the ‘Residence Premises’ Definition

An insured must reside at their property to have coverage for damage to their home under an HO form policy. The defense arises out of the typical HO policy’s definition of “residence premises,” and the introductory clause in the building …