TRIGGERS FOR RECOVERY OF PREJUDGMENT INTEREST
Where an insurer had denied a claim and many years have ensued until an adjudication of its duty to defend, prejudgment interest recovery can be significant. This, in turn, can make choice of the forum to pursue a coverage case, as well as what law that forum may apply, a critical decision element for coverage litigation.
Insurance Coverage for and IT Consultant’s Role in Media/Cyber Policy Application
As many entities shift a number of employees to remote desktop work, policyholders face the challenge of procuring appropriate coverage for risks arising from their growing online business operations. Traditional policies leave gaps in coverage for cyber-related claims as their policy language rarely include the necessary protections for injury cause through online operations. Make sure you have the appropriate coverage for your online business by securing Cyber/Media polices into your insurance portfolio.
Illusory Coverage - A Continuing Thorn in the Side of Policyholders
The application of the “illusory coverage” doctrine bars policyholders from coverage they reasonably believe they have. Courts differ on the fact circumstances that trigger application of the “illusory coverage” doctrine. These methods can be categorized into three (3) distinct approaches.
The “Advertiser’s Exclusion” Doesn’t Bar Coverage for Advertisers Who Act Beyond Its Scope
A number of insurers issue standard ISO policies that exclude conduct committed by an insured whose business is advertising, broadcasting, publishing or telecasting. This exclusion can be circumvented, however, where the nature of their conduct of an advertiser is not their principal business.
Preferred General Partnership Liability ("GPL") Policies for Private Equity Firms
Private equity firms could be spending to much money on their D&O policies to cover their partnerships. Or, they could be leaving considerable gaps in their D&O policies to claims arising out of partnerships. A GPL policy can change all that, saving private equities money and providing critical coverage appropriate for private equity partnerships.
Why NFT Valuation Represents an Insurable Asset
Insurers may well find themselves embroiled in policyholder quests to secure defense fee reimbursement arising out of lawsuits contesting rights to NFTs and infringing uses of asserting NFT rights.
Reach for the Stick: Why Dynamite is Less Dangerous Than "Claims Made & Reported" Policies
Dynamite is inherently risky and should be treated with kid gloves. Nitroglycerin, an element, within the dynamite is susceptible to shock and so must be handled with extreme caution and care. Compared to dynamite, “Claims-Made-and-Reported” policies include a number of traps for the unwary policyholder that if not mindful can result in major losses.
Insurance Coverage for COVID-19 Infection Claims by Employees Returning to Work
Businesses are beginning to re-open and their employees are returning to work. Employers need to be prepared for the evolving threat of COVID-19 infection and employee infection claims. Learn more about how to find insurance coverage when workers’ compensation may not be not enough.
The Gorilla in the Closet: Insurers Take a Superficial View of Covid-19 Science
COVID-19 is the type of all-encompassing loss event that upends the risk calculations on which insurers build their businesses.
Conservative 5th Circuit Broadly Construes "Publication" in Policy to Cover Hack
Despite generally analogous insurance policies being available across the country, the location of a lawsuit and the predispositions of particular courts can often be determining factors in coverage lawsuits, particularly where a case comes down to conventions of policy interpretation.
Insurance Coverage Under E&O/D&O Policies for Fraud
In RSUI Indemnity Co. v. Murdock, a D&O policy was found to require the defense of a federal securities action. The court affirmed the trial court’s determination that a Profit/Fraud Exclusion did not apply, because there was no adjudication of the underlying action, which was a requirement for the exclusion.
Insurance Coverage for Trade Secret Lawsuits under CGL Policies
The defendant in a trade secret lawsuit can often turn to its Commercial General Liability (“CGL”) insurance policy find coverage for its defense and liability.
Expanding Opportunities for Coverage of M&A Transactions in Representation and Warranty Insurance
The prevalence of RWI may lead corporations and their coverage counsel to ask whether it makes sense for them. How big must a deal be to make such a policy worthwhile? What opportunities exist—where can a policy be found, and what limits are available? Are there any pitfalls?
Duplicitous and Overbroad Insurer Constructions of Exclusions Improperly Deprive Policyholders of Coverage Benefits
Insurers, incentivized to avoid their duty to defend policyholders in lawsuits, have sometimes embraced the idea that even one connection between a policy exclusion and a claim is enough to relieve them of that duty. While a policy may state that it does not indemnify certain alleged offenses by the insured, the insurer should not be able to deny a defense where those allegations comprise only a portion of an otherwise covered suit.
Narrow, Narrower and Narrowest: The Insurer's Playbook to Avoid Coverage
A recurring theme in Commercial General Liability (“CGL”) policy forms is that there has been an ongoing narrowing of “personal injury”/ “advertising injury” coverage provisions.
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.