Insurer Side Beware: Litigation Privilege for Pre-Suit Communications Extends Only To The Party Contemplating Filing Of Litigation
1/14/19
By: Tim Kenna & Kristin Ingulsrud Strawn v. Morris, Polich & Purdy—filed Jan. 4, 2019, Court of Appeal of California, First District, Division Two 2019 Cal.App. LEXIS 9*—makes explicit that the application of the litigation privilege to pre-suit claims communications where the policyholder disputes its contemplation of litigation only applies to policy side interests if…
The Restatement of The Law of Liability Insurance Is Coming~ Ready Or Not!
5/21/18
By: Gretchen Carner On May 22, 2018, at the annual meeting of the American Law Institute (ALI ) in Washington, D.C., its members are set to vote on final approval of the Restatement of the Law of Liability Insurance (RLLI). The American Law Institute’s RLLI aims, as former Director Lance Liebman said, to seek “the…
Court Ruling Highlights Importance of Policy Language
4/11/18
By: America Vidana In Mt. Hawley Insurance Co. v. Tactic Security Enforcement, Inc., No. 6:16-cv-01425 (M.D. FL. 2018), U.S. District Judge Paul Byron of the Middle District of Florida recently denied an insurance company’s motion for summary judgment, in which it relied on an exclusion to deny coverage to its policyholder. The policyholder and restaurant…
Issuing a Reservation of Rights? You May Lose Control Over Settlement
2/5/16
By: Jonathan Romvary By reserving the right to deny coverage, insurers may be relinquishing the power to force the policyholder to forego reasonable settlement opportunities for covered claims that do not align with the goals of the insurer. In Babcock & Wilcox Co., et al. v. American Nuclear Insurers, et al., 2015 WL 4430352 (Pa.…