BUSINESS OWNER’S GUIDE TO INSURANCE COVERAGE
Business owners are often confronted by the need to explore insurance coverage to evaluate whether claims or problematic events arose requiring insurer involvement and subsequently, insurance coverage expertise. Policyholders need to be mindful and may need to seek counsel expertise to properly clarify and structure their claim submission to avoid traps posed by policy exclusions and conditions in their insurance policy.
Insurance Recovery for Restitutionary Intellectual Property Claims
Insurance recovery in intellectual property lawsuits is often not limited to “compensatory damages”. Claimants who suffer a Loss in an intellectual property dispute may secure recovery that is not limited to “compensatory damages”. Licensing revenue is commonly recoverable in the successful pursuit of trademark infringement lawsuits.
Insurance Coverage for Vehicular Accidents
Plaintiff’s lawyers often seek damages beyond those available under Defendant’s individual automobile policies. Where Defendants are working for an employer at the time of an accident, separate coverage under the Commercial General Liability (“CGL”) policy of the Defendant’s employer, which include Commercial Automotive coverage may be implicated.
Preferred Pathways to Secure Trade Secret Coverage
Many trade secret litigators presume that insurance coverage for trade secret lawsuits is not readily available. But, this overstates the viability of the insurer’s arguments against coverage. Trade secret disputes often include fact allegations that address an array of different liability theories often articulated under counts such as tortious interference as well as misappropriation offering coverage that trade secret litigators should explore.
Narrowly Construing COVID-19 Business Interruption Insurance Coverage
A 4th District, Division 1, California Court of Appeals panel, in The Inns by The Sea v. California Mutual Ins. Co., decided that civil authority coverage cannot be implicated because “bodily injury” or “property damage” was not the triggering event, but rather the authority’s announcement of a shutdown in mid-March of 2020. The court’s analysis emphasizing the non-event essential espouses that the egg came into life, full force, without the chicken.
Coverage for Malware Attacks – Crytpojacking and Ransomware
With malware attacks on the rise and evolving, policyholders need to secure proper cyber insurance coverage to protect them against the costly expenses of these attacks.
Policyholder's Rights to Challenge Insurer's Control of Counsel
Commercial General Liability (“CGL”) policies, however, rarely bestow a right on the policyholder to select counsel. Nonetheless, policyholders may still secure its choice of counsel where an ethical conflict arises because of the insurer’s “reservation of rights” (“ROR”).
ESTATE LITIGATION AND INSURANCE COVERAGE
While probate and civil litigation address legal issues in separate spheres, those distinct lawsuits often address interwoven factual disputes. Where procuring Professional Liability Trustee insurance is, more times than not, a viable solution, proactive acquisition of insurance coverage trustees placed in a fiduciary duty role. This, access to insurance coverage is more broadly available than many policyholders recognize.
When Insurance Coverage Arises for Implicit As Well As Direct Disparagement
Implicit disparagement is an insurance coverage doctrine often overlooked or misapplied. It first surfaced within the final decade of the last millennium. The reasoning was always there. But, coverage practitioners had not presented the available arguments that demonstrated that “disparagement” offense policy did not require that the allegations addressed all elements to evidence common trade libel law or product disparagement to establish coverage under offense “d”.
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.