Coverage & Claims

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Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge attorneys recently obtained dismissal of a $20,000,000 New York state court declaratory judgment action against American International Specialty Lines Insurance Company (AISLIC), an AIG-affiliated entity. 

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Read More New York State Court Dismisses Coverage Claim On Basis Of “Owned Property” Exclusion

On August 23, 2007, Louisiana Attorney General, Charles C. Foti, Jr. filed a lawsuit accusing over one hundred insurance companies of improperly denying Katrina related damages.  The action was brought on behalf of homeowners who are eligible to receive funds through the Road Home Program (“Program”). 

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Read More Louisiana AG Sues More Than One Hundred Insurance Companies Over Katrina-Related Damages

In a case arising out of Hurricane Katrina-related damages, the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut ruled that communications between a cedent and reinsurer that were prepared in the ordinary course of business are not protected by the work-product privilege. 

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Read More Connecticut Federal Court Rules that Certain Communications Between a Cedent and Reinsurer in a Hurricane Katrina-Related Case are Not Protected by the Work-Product Privilege

On September 12, 2007, Judge L.T. Senter, Jr., sitting in the federal district court in Mississippi, denied a motion filed by State Farm Fire and Casualty Company to disqualify Richard (“Dickie”) Scruggs, his law firm, and other attorneys and firms in the Scruggs Katrina Group from representing plaintiffs in the case of McIntosh v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. 

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Read More Mississippi Court Denies State Farm’s Motion to Disqualify Dickie Scruggs and the Scruggs Katrina Group

In a greatly anticipated opinion, the Florida Supreme Court recently clarified the Valued Policy Law (“VPL”), §627.702(1), Fla. Stat. (2004).  Florida Farm Bureau Casualty Ins. Co. v. Cox, No. SC06-2494, 2007 WL 2727072 (Fla. S. Ct. Sept. 20, 2007).   The Court considered whether the  VPL required an insurer to pay the face value of the policy for a “total loss” caused, in part, by a covered peril and, in part, by a non-covered peril. 

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Read More Florida’s Valued Policy Law – The Florida Supreme Court Weighs In

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that Mid-Continent Casualty Company owes a duty to defend its insured, Lamar Homes Inc., against construction defect claims under its commercial general liability policy. 

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Read More Texas Courts Rule That Coverage For Construction Defect Claims May Be Available Under A CGL Policy

A California Court of Appeal recently held that “deliberate acts of self-defense” can be “accidents” for purposes of determining an insurer’s duty to defend under a liability insurance policy. 

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Read More California Court of Appeal Holds That Deliberate Acts of Self-Defense Can Be “Accidents” That Give Rise to the Potential For Liability Coverage

A California federal court recently attempted to clarify the interrelationship between extrinsic evidence, potential for liability and the duty to defend under California law. …
Read More Extrinsic Evidence Cannot Create Duty to Defend Under California Law Where The Evidence Does Not Pertain To The Claims Actually Asserted

Last week we reported that Prudential Financial, Inc. and one of its subsidiaries, Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company, has sued State Street & Trust Corp. and State Street Global Advisors over losses allegedly suffered by Prudential clients in two bond funds managed by State Street  (see here). 

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Read More Alaska and Idaho Reportedly Investigate State Street Over Mortgage Investments as States Increase Scrutiny of the Mortgage Crisis