An Oregon District Court in Thompson v. Dennis Widmer Construction, Inc., 2021 WL 5235974 (D. Or., November 10, 2021) limited the insurance company’s ability to access defense counsel’s complete defense file through the tri-partite relationship. The case involved the...
Firm News
CALIFORNIA COURT FINDS THAT A SUBJECTIVE STANDARD APPLIES TO AN INSURER’S PRIOR KNOWLEDGE PROVISION
Attorney errors and omissions policies universally contain a prior knowledge clause which precludes coverage for claims made during the policy period if, before the inception of the policy, the attorney had knowledge of the “actual alleged negligent act, error, or...
STEPPING DOWN INTO FELONY FLIGHT
Recently, the South Carolina Supreme Court held that a “step-down” clause within an automobile liability policy was void. In Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. Walls, _____ S.E.2d _____, 2021 WL 908511 (S.C. 2021) the insured was in the process of committing a...
TEXAS SUPREME COURT RULES THAT DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACTION CAN BE USED TO ESTABLISH ENTITLEMENT TO UIM BENEFIT
In Allstate Insurance Co. v. Irwin, _____ S.W.3d _____, 64 Texas Sup. Court Justice 1058, 2021 WL 2021446 (Texas, 5/21/21), the Texas Supreme Court affirmed an award entered in a declaratory judgment action, finding that entitlement to UIM benefits could be...
Escape Clauses Within A Garage Policy Held To Be Void Under New Jersey Law
In Higgins v. Aguilar, 246 N.J. 75, 248 A.3d 1213 (N.J. 2021), Federal Insurance Company insured a car dealership with $1 million of liability coverage for the dealership vehicles. The Federal policy purportedly extended liability coverage to customers using dealer...
Step Down For Crime
The South Carolina Supreme Court recently considered an automobile policy stepdown clause in relationship to criminal misconduct. In Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. Walls, 433 S.C. 206, 858 S.E.2d 150 (S.C. 2021) an automobile accident occurred as a result of...
Failing to Initiate Settlement Negotiations is Risky Business (Reprinted from Claims Journal, November 7, 2017)
Two recent cases have addressed insurance company extracontractual exposure for failing to initiate settlement negotiations. In Stalley v. Allstate Insurance Co., 2016 WL 1752764 (M.D. Fla. April 29, 2016) the court considered the so-called “Powell rule” where the...
OHIO SUPREME COURT REINS IN “ALL SUMS” JOINT AND SEVERAL ALLOCATION
Whenever successive insurers provide concurrent coverage for the same risk, there arises an issue of allocation of the risk between the successive insurers. In light of the impracticality or impossibility of trying to determine how much of the damage took place...
IDAHO ADOPTS A BREACH OF CONTRACT STATUTE OF LIMITATION FOR UIM COVERAGE
In Klein v. Farmers Ins. Co. of Idaho, 165 Idaho 832, 453 P.3d 266 (Idaho 2019) the Idaho Supreme Court held that the UIM statute of limitations began to run on the date when the insurance company allegedly breached its contract with the insured. The Court found that...
IDAHO SUPREME COURT PERMITS UIM OFFSET
In Wood v. Farmers Ins. Co. of Idaho, 166 Idaho 43, 454 P.3d 1126 (Idaho 2019) the Court held that where a UIM policy contained an offset provision which reduced the amount of UIM coverage by the liability limit of the at-fault driver, the offset was allowed by...