General Liability

Expert Analysis

• Navigating High Court's Options In Insurer Choice Of Law

  

  Depending on how the U.S. Supreme Court approaches the question of when insurers may invoke choice-of-law clauses in maritime contracts to dodge state-specific liability, the Great Lakes v. Raiders Retreat Realty decision may mean significant changes not only for admiralty law disputes, but for the insurance industry more broadly, say Lara Cassidy and Adriana Perez at Hunton.

• 7th Circ. Adds To Range Of Opinions On MCS-90 Endorsement

  

  The Seventh Circuit's recent opinion in Prime Insurance Company v. Wright helps illustrate how the variation among courts as to when the federally mandated MCS-90 insurance endorsement for motor carriers is satisfied often hinges on exactly how "interstate commerce" is defined, says Rick Boepple at Akerman.

• NY Rulings Show Shift In Insurance Priority Approach

  

  Some recent New York state decisions considering coverage priority of primary and excess insurance policies and contractual indemnity claims run against clear policy language, which should trump extrinsic evidence of intent, says Dan Kohane at Hurwitz Fine.

• Tips For Plaintiffs Attorneys Ahead Of Expanded Fire Season

  

  With the expansion of fire season — both in length of time and geography — plaintiffs lawyers can expect fire-related litigation to increase this coming year and need to prepare themselves and their clients for claims that are complex, time-consuming and costly, says Gerald Singleton at Singleton Schreiber.

• Pollutant Insurance Case Holds Clues For Ohio Train Litigation

  

  A recent Rhode Island Supreme Court decision in Regan Heating v. Arbella could mean that the wide-reaching impacts of the February train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, will trigger the enforcement of any total pollution exclusion contained in Norfolk Southern's commercial general liability policy, says Kayla O’Connor at Saxe Doernberger.

• Establishing A Record Of Good Faith In Mediation

  

  Viacom v. U.S. Specialty Insurance, and other recent cases, highlight the developing criteria for determining good faith participation in mediation, as well as several practical tips to establish such a record, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.

• Using ChatGPT To Handle Insurance Claims Is A Risky Move

  

  ChatGPT gets some insurance law questions surprisingly wrong, and while it handles broader coverage concepts significantly better, using it to assist with coverage questions will likely lead to erroneous results and could leave insurers liable for bad faith, says Randy Maniloff at White and Williams.

• Fla. Bill Would Rein In Personal Injury Litigation Excesses

  

  A recently proposed bill in the Florida House that would change bad-faith laws and the admissibility of medical bills for services performed under a letter of protection would provide reasonable checks on practices that are far too common in personal injury cases in the Sunshine State, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

• Takeaways From Tree-Clearing Co.'s 11th Circ. Insurance Win

  

  The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in Frankenmuth Mutual v. Brown's Clearing, interpreting the extent of knowledge required to trigger an insured's notice obligations under a commercial general liability policy, is both a welcome sign and a cautionary tale for corporate policyholders, say Garrett Nemeroff and Christopher Kuleba at Reed Smith.

• High Court Ax Of Atty-Client Privilege Case Deepens Split

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's recent dismissal of In re: Grand Jury as improvidently granted maintains a three-way circuit split on the application of attorney-client privilege to multipurpose communications, although the justices have at least shown a desire to address it, say Trey Bourn and Thomas DiStanislao at Butler Snow.

• Why General Liability Carriers Are Wary Of SEC Climate Rule

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed rule to require companies to formally report climate change risks could come into play in five areas that should be concerning to companies and their general liability insurers, says Eric Scheiner at Kennedys.

• Wis. High Court Ruling May Open Door To Coverage Exception

  

  The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s recent decision in Dostal v. Strand finding that an insurer had to defend a civil action following the defendant's criminal conviction on the same facts nonetheless may suggest an exception to the complaint test for determining an insurance company's defense obligation, say David Hollander and Clementine Uwabera at Stafford Rosenbaum.

• A Litigation Move That Could Conserve Discovery Resources

  

  Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben proposes the preliminary legal opinion procedure — seeking a court's opinion on a disputed legal standard at the outset, rather than the close, of discovery — as a useful resource-preservation tool for legally complex, discovery-intensive litigation.