7/19/22
By: Ryan Giggi Liability insurance policies do not cover G.L. c. 93A attorney’s fees in Massachusetts after a recent decision from the state’s highest court. Vermont Mutual Insurance Company v. Paul Poirier et al, (July 6, 2022) rests on conceptual differences between damages and attorney’s fees awarded under G.L. c. 93A, § 9(4). Massachusetts’s Supreme…
Minnesota Just Made it Harder for Insureds to Claim ‘Bad Faith’
7/12/22
By: Matthew Jones In the matter entitled Fishbowl Solutions v. Hanover Ins. Co., the United States District Court for Minnesota affirmed a Magistrate Judge’s Order denying an insured’s motion to amend the complaint to allege “bad faith.” The insured purchased a technology professional liability policy. When a third-party fraudster obtained access to emails of the…
Coverage Doesn’t Stick in Teflon dispute
6/27/22
By: Erin Lamb At its Petersburg, New York plant, Tonoga, Inc. made products and materials coated with polytetrafluoroethylene, better known by its trade name, Teflon. Before 2013, when making Teflon, Tonoga used perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluorooctane sulfonate, or a combination of both. These are man-made chemicals in a class of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, generally known…
Eleventh Circuit Finds for Insurer in COVID-19 Case of First Impression in Georgia
6/6/22
FMG partners Phil Savrin and Shawn Bingham successfully represented Allied Insurance Company of America (a Nationwide entity) in resisting a claim by a restaurant (Henry’s Louisiana Grill) seeking coverage for business income lost after it suspended its operations after the COVID-19 outbreak. The central question, which had not been decided previously under Georgia law, was…
Down It Goes! Illinois Prejudgment Interest Struck Down – What To Do Now
5/31/22
By: Jonathan Schwartz and Patrick Eckler Judge Marcia Maras of the Circuit Court of Cook County struck down as violative of the Illinois state constitution, PA 102-0006, which permits prejudgment interest in personal injury and wrongful death cases. This ruling is of great significance for those with cases that predate the statute’s effective date, July…
5/24/22
By: Barry Miller Can the same conduct be unintentional, under a broad reading of the word “intent,” and still be intentional under a narrower test? A recent opinion from a Kentucky federal seems to suggest that an insured can lose coverage in precisely that way. Questions of intent often arise under the standard “intentional injury”…
5/23/22
By: Edward Storck The recent decision in Tamara Dorfman v. Joscelyn Smith, et al, 342 Conn. 582, 271 A.3d 53 (March 29, 2022), addressed whether an insurer’s alleged conduct during litigation could form the basis of a “bad faith” finding in the handling of an underinsured motorists insurance coverage claim. The Connecticut Supreme Court upheld…
4/22/22
By: Mary-Kate Planchet In Erika L. McNamara, Willard F. Warren and Kenneth Bennett v. Government Employees Insurance Company, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 9090 (11th Cir. Apr. 5, 2022), the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit determined whether a qualifying “excess judgment” for bad faith must be based on a verdict or may…
Chubb unit beats virus coverage suit brought by NJ apparel company
3/25/22
By: Edward Solensky Jr. In GK Trading LLC v. Chubb Group of Insurance Cos. et al., the SuperiorCourt of New Jersey dismissed an apparel company’s suit seeking to have a Chubbunit cover its losses arising from the coronavirus outbreak. Specifically, Plaintiffalleged that COVID-19 microbial matter attached to the surfaces within its CoveredLocations and thereby caused…
Florida Bad Faith: If Insurers Try Sometimes, They Just Might Find, They Get Summary Judgment
3/22/22
By: Matthew Boyer and Jessica Cauley On February 15, 2022, the Eleventh Circuit filed an unpublished opinion interpreting Florida’s bad faith law arising out of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Ellis v. GEICO Gen. Ins. Co., No. 21-12159, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 4180 (11th Cir. Fla., February 15, 2022).…
The 11th Circuit deals blow to Employer’s Liability exclusion finding ambiguities under Alabama law
3/15/22
By: Mallory Ball In James River Insurance Company v. Ultratec Special Effects Inc., 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 1120 (11th Cir. Jan. 13, 2022), the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, applying Alabama law, determined the “any insured” language in the Employer’s Liability exclusion is ambiguous because it can be read singularly or collectively. Going further, the…
3/3/22
By: Lee Whatling Last month, the Eleventh Circuit issued an unpublished, per curiam opinion reaffirming its interpretation of Georgia’s bad faith law that authorizes summary judgment “if there is any reasonable ground for the insurer to contest the claim” even when faced with a misstatement from the insurer as to the timeframe within which the…