Knowing Where and How to Look for IP Coverage in CGL Policies
Litigating an Intellectual Property dispute raises important questions: When does an insurer have to pay for a defense? Who should notify insurers and when—and which insurers? What if the insurers all say no? What kinds of policies make for favorable recovery prospects?
Securing Insurance Coverage Benefits Under Homeowners' Policies for Partnership Disputes
Business dissolutions, especially of professional partnerships, range from law to accounting to medical and other similar ventures. These events often include communications to existing clients of an organization to secure continuing relationships following the dissolution. It is anticipated that a departing professional will explain that the dissolution arose, what organization or form of entity they will join, and with whom. Objective statements about the new organization, the benefits available there, and the character of the professional’s practice going forward are all appropriate and cannot be a basis for asserted tortious conduct. However, it is not uncommon in these scenarios for professionals to express unflattering views about equity participants in the now-dissolved prior organizations.
Ten Tips on Employment Practice Liability Insurance Coverage
Only EPL policies can reliably shield businesses from employment practice claims. Other common business insurance policies have been found to burden the policyholder with a duty to reimburse an insurer’s defense fees in employment-related disputes, including policies for Commercial General Liability (“CGL”), Employment Benefits Liability, Errors and Omissions, Directors and Officers (“D&O”), and Fiduciary Liability.
The Implied Right to Recoupment--A Tale of Smoke and Mirrors
In recent years, more and more courts have recognized that, absent some bilateral agreement, insurers do not have the right to recoup costs spent defending a policyholder when it is later determined that no duty to defend existed.
A Tale of Two Cases: What a Difference A Forum Makes
It is the rare set of cases that so graphically illustrates the different analytical approaches that Luna Gourmet Coffee & Tea Co.[1] and Sprint Lumber[2] follow, where the applicable law of the forum is of less import than the presumption of one court that false, frivolous, and groundless claims did not entitle the insured to defense if the court can deduce why the insured has not been sued for potentially covered claims, based on the court’s understanding of what facts would suffice to create a colorable claim for relief.
Navigating Issues of Dual Representation Where Both Appointed Counsel and Independent Counsel Jointly Defend a Covered Lawsuit
In many cases, a defendant in a lawsuit may want to select their own lawyer, even if they believe that their liability insurance obligates the insurer to appoint one. If the defendant chooses to do so: “both the counsel provided by the insurer and independent counsel selected by the insured shall be allowed to participate in all aspects of the litigation. Counsel shall cooperate fully in the exchange of information that is consistent with each counsel’s ethical and legal obligation to the insured.”
Assuring Pre-Tender Fees Are Recoverable by Providing Proper Notice to Insurers
A Failure to Provide Notice Even Where it Does Not Preclude the Right to Any Defense May Limit a Client to Recovery Of Only Post-Notice Attorneys’ Fees.
Avoiding Malpractice by Providing Prompt Notice of Intellectual Property Claims to Insurers
“Intellectual property attorneys may have a duty to apprize their clients of the need to notify their clients’ insurers of claims as part of their retention in order to fully represent their clients’ interests in a lawsuit for which they are counsel of record.”
Insurance Coverage for Intellectual Property Risks
A primer on the types of policies that one may turn to coverage for Intellectual Property issues
Insurers May Owe an Obligation to Defend Ongoing Lawsuits
Some policyholders, if queried, might presume that a lawsuit which incepts before they have a policy in force could not trigger coverage under that later-issued policy of insurance. Insurers would argue that no insurer would issue a policy that had a defense obligation as of the date of its inception so that a notice provided contemporaneously with the policy’s issuance would trigger any rights thereunder. Generally accepted insurance coverage principles, as applied to standardized commercial general liability policies, do not preclude coverage for claims/lawsuits alleging continuous tortious conduct which incept prior to issuance of “occurrence” based insurance. This article will explore circumstances where post-claim/lawsuit coverage may be available to policyholders.
Why Policyholders Should Hire Insurance Coverage Savvy Intellectual Property Litigators
Intellectual property litigation proceeds through a variety of causes of action. They can include a number of distinct factual allegations that often in some instances trigger insurance policy benefits entitling policyholders to a defense at their insurer’s expense. While the most common form of business insurance to secure coverage remains the Commercial General Liability (“CGL”) policy. Securing defense benefits under such policies presents increasing challenges.
Buried Treasure
Many professionals with Errors & Omissions Coverage may find that their insurance includes no “advertising injury” coverage despite their widespread use of digital marketing to reach potential new clients. One solution is to secure express coverage for intellectual property (“IP”) infringement claims through an insurer.
Three 2020 Coverage Cases Clarify Coverage Availability
Three cases in 2020 clarified key issues of law, germane to policy holder goals in securing full reimbursement of moneys expended in underlying potentially covered lawsuits.
New Opportunities for Coverage of Intellectual Property Torts
Many professionals with Errors & Omissions Coverage may find that their insurance includes no “advertising injury” coverage despite their widespread use of digital marketing to reach potential new clients. One solution is to secure express coverage for intellectual property (“IP”) infringement claims through an insurer.
POWER OUTAGE Property Insurance Coverage
Typically, “property damage” coverage includes “physical loss or damage to covered property” referenced in the policy’s Declarations section. “Property damage” must result from any Covered Cause of Loss, such as a fire or windstorm, typically included as one of the policy’s “named perils.” But, such coverage includes not only direct loss but loss of use and functionality of the covered property.
California Supreme Court's Pitzer Opinion Unearths New Opportunities to Revisit Prior Insurer Denials of Policy Benefits
When insurers deny a defense and the law changes, or is clarified in a way that is contrary to positions insurers relied upon in denying a defense, the opportunity arises to revisit coverage denials. Many policyholders and their counsel overlook this readily available source of funding for ongoing litigation or settlements. We refer to this as “buried treasure.”
Reimbursement for Business Tort Lawsuits
Did you know that reimbursement for lawsuits may be recoverable through your insurance policies? We call this "Buried Treasure.”
Navigating the Insurance Maze World
Courts typically evaluate an insurer's duty to defend advertising injury claims using a three-part test. Coverage exists where the insured demonstrates advertising activity, . . .
David A. Gauntlett: Dean of the "Coverage B" Bar
Our principal, David A. Gauntlett, answers four questions in Coverage Opinions on the scope, character and history of utilization of "Coverage B" of the CGL policy.
Court Denies National Union's Motion to Dismiss Bad Faith Case
Judge Klausner denied National Union’s motion for summary judgment on bad faith. The court also denied its request to terminate the defense going forward finding a duty to defend the Underlying Action.