Construction Defects Can In Fact Be Accidents
7/24/13
By: Jonathan Kandel The Supreme Court of Georgia has further clarified the scope of coverage for construction defect claims under commercial general liability (CGL) insurance policies. In Taylor Morrison Services, Inc. v. HDI-Gerling America Insurance Company, No. S13Q0462 (Ga. July 12, 2013), the court clarified that a construction defect claim constitutes an “occurrence,” as…
Court of Appeals Breathes New Life into Joint and Several Liability in Georgia
4/4/13
By: Phil Savrin For many years, the rule in Georgia was that tortfeasors could be liable jointly and severally for bodily injury or death, without apportionment unless the plaintiff was found to be some part at fault. If a plaintiff was not partly at fault, then he could collect the entire judgment from any one…
Right of Contribution among Joint Tortfeasors is Still Viable in Georgia
4/2/13
By: Bart Gary Most believed that the right of contribution among joint tortfeasors (two or more persons whose negligence combine to cause injury or damage) was abolished in Georgia in 2005 when the tort reform legislation went into effect. On March 28, 2013, the Georgia Court of Appeal issued its opinion in Zurich Amer. Ins.…
Stranger Danger: Georgia Joins Minority View and Allows Assignability of Legal Malpractice Claims
4/2/13
By: Dana Maine Legal malpractice carriers be aware that you will now be on the hook for defending your insureds in actions brought by strangers to any attorney-client relationship. The Georgia Supreme Court just answered the question on the minds of Georgia attorneys and legal malpractice practitioners across the country – legal malpractice claims are…
3/28/13
By: Bart Gary Many contracts, especially construction contracts, will contain a provision whereby one party, usually a subcontractor, agrees to add the other party to the contract, usually the general contractor, as an additional insured on the former’s insurance coverage. Where the additional insured has its own coverage, the question arises as to whether there are…
The Marketing Risks of Insurance Related Litigation
10/4/12
By: Seth Kirby
Nationally syndicated radio host Clark Howard recently targeted auto insurer Progressive in his “Clarkrageous Moment,” a segment in which he expresses his outrage over various topics. In this instance, his outrage stemmed from an auto accident in Maryland that caused the death of Kaitlynn Fisher. Ms. Fisher was insured by
Georgia Supreme Court Expands Diminution in Value Analysis to All Property Damage Claims
7/9/12
By: Seth Kirby
For the last decade, Georgia auto insurers have been required to compensate accident victims for the inherent loss in value that a car suffers when it has been in an accident. This loss is known as diminution in value. Essentially, it is a recognition that a car that has been in
Supreme Court of Georgia does an About Face on Preserving Coverage Defenses
7/5/12
By: Phil Savrin
Three weeks ago, I blogged that even though the Supreme Court of Georgia held that defending an insured without a reservation of rights waived coverage defenses, the standard for preserving defenses was easy to meet. Since then, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Hoover v. Maxum Indemnity Company that turns the
The Pitfall of Coverage by Estoppel in Georgia
6/7/12
By: Philip W. Savrin
The Supreme Court of Georgia swept aside many decades of case law recently when it decided that an insurer cannot rely on policy provisions to deny coverage if it defends its insured without reserving its rights. Before the World Harvest decision, the cases seemed to require that the insured had to show that