General Liability

Expert Analysis

• Default Dates Of 1st Exposure Can Lead To Conflict

  

  Troubling issues can arise when an umbrella or excess insurer refuses to accept claims of primary policy exhaustion because allocation of loss is based on a default date of first exposure. A Connecticut appellate court's decision in Vanderbilt v. Hartford earlier this year shows how practicality and fairness weigh into resolution of DOFE coverage issues, say Jim Dorion of Willies Towers Watson PLC and Stephen Hoke of Hoke LLC.

• What I Learned In My 1st Year: Listen Carefully, Speak Up

  

  When I graduated from law school, I landed at an old-line firm in the Golden Triangle of Texas. Two significant things happened to me around that time. One pertained to learning to listen, and the other pertained to refusing to participate in what I heard, says Marcy Rothman of Kane Russell Coleman Logan PC.

• Chilling Litigation Tourism In Illinois 'Judicial Hellholes'

  

  Corporations may welcome the Illinois Supreme Court's opinion in Aspen American Insurance v. Interstate Warehousing. A few of the Illinois counties affected by the ruling tied for sixth place on the American Tort Reform Foundation’s 2016-17 list of the nation’s “Judicial Hellholes,” say Blake Angelino and Doug Prochnow of Faegre Baker Daniels LLP.

• ALI Draft Restatement Misstates Key Insurance Law Issues

  

  Significant inaccuracies and bias remain in the American Law Institute's latest draft of its Restatement of the Law, Liability Insurance, released last month. Hopefully, additional feedback and dialogue will lead the “reporters” to produce a product that more accurately restates the law of liability insurance, says Scott Seaman of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP.

• Courts Focus On Insurance Policy Language, Not Case Law

  

  A Pennsylvania appeals court's decision in Century v. OneBeacon this month found that OneBeacon owed reinsurance coverage to two insurers for asbestos claims. This decision is the latest in a line of rulings that examines each contract based on its unique terms and rejects reinsurers' prior case law arguments, say attorneys with Hunton & Williams LLP.

• The Environmental Impact Of Hurricanes: From Sandy To Irma

  

  Five years ago, John Nevius of Anderson Kill PC wrote a Law360 article addressing the risks that followed in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Today, those tasked with assessing and mitigating the enormous destruction wrought by Harvey and Irma will benefit from the late Nevius' analysis, which his colleague Robert Horkovich discusses in this update.

• 4 Ways Law Firms Can Help Battle Addiction

  

  With more than a third of lawyers showing signs of problem drinking, and untold others abusing prescription drugs and other substances, it is time for law firms to be more proactive in addressing this issue, says Link Christin, executive director of the Legal Professionals Program at Caron Treatment Centers.

• Opioid Litigation: What's On The Horizon

  

  As prescriptions for pain-suppressing opioids have soared, some have speculated that litigation will follow. Such litigation could take various forms, including personal injury lawsuits making design defect and/or failure-to-warn claims, consumer fraud actions, and more. Manufacturers and retailers should take steps now to protect themselves, say authors from Innovative Science Solutions and Locke Lord LLP.

• The Use Of Special Masters In Complex Cases

  

  Special master appointments can be very beneficial in resolving disputes quickly, streamlining discovery, handling delicate settlement negotiations, and — somewhat surprisingly — reducing cost and delay, says retired U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin, now with JAMS.

• Senate Bill May Force Rise In Suits For Opioid Funding

  

  As the Senate seeks to reduce funding and services for opioid addiction, states and governments seeking new sources of funding may have increased incentive to sue manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioids. An increase in suits may shift the financial burden of the opioid crises to the pharmaceutical defendants and their liability insurers, say Adam Fleischer and Patrick Bedell of BatesCarey LLP.

• The Evolution Of Opioid Suits And Insurance Coverage

  

  In the midst of the worst drug crisis in American history, two key developments this month may have far-reaching impacts on both the underlying liability claims as well as the insurers to whom the defendants are looking to finance hundreds of millions of dollars in exposure, says Adam Fleischer of BatesCarey LLP.

• Why Plaintiffs Bar Should Worry About Asbestos Suits

  

  Asbestos-related cases have come to be known as the longest-running mass tort litigation ever, and they have collected a number of potential problems over time. Diminishment of trust funds for victims, loss of insurance coverage for asbestos defendants and long court backlogs are all potential issues attorneys must confront and discuss with their asbestos plaintiffs, says Gregory Cade of Environmental Litigation Group PC.

• Defining An Occurrence For Sexual Abuse Cases

  

  In Diocese v. Duluth, the Bankruptcy Court for the District Court of Minnesota ruled last month that each instance of sexual abuse counted as a separate trigger of insurance coverage. This decision clashes with a recent decision made by a Pennsylvania court, indicating that courts across the country will continue to grapple with trigger and number of occurrence issues related to sexual abuse, says Katharine Thompson of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP.