Prime Time Sports Grill, Inc. v. DTW1991 Underwriting Limited, A Certain Interested Underwriter at Lloyd’s London
Year: 2020
Court: United States District Court Middle District of Florida
Case Number: 8:20-cv-00771-CEH-JSS
Issue:
  • COVID-19
State:
  • Florida

In its brief, UP opposed a Motion to Dismiss and seeks to address the limited issue that the certain covered causes of loss (such as COVID-19 and civil authority orders) can in good faith be alleged to have caused “direct physical loss or damage.” UP…
Joseph Tambellini, Inc. v. Erie Insurance Exchange
Year: 2020
Court: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Case Number: 52 WM 2020
Issue:
  • COVID-19
State:
  • Pennsylvania

In its brief, UP weighed in to argue against a homogenous, one-size-fits-all judicial resolution for business interruption (BI) claims resulting from Governor Tom Wolf’s emergency order regulating actives of business and persons in Pennsylvania. UP first argues that the proposed consolidation would limit the options…
National Indemnity Co. v. State of Montana
Year: 2020
Court: Supreme Court of the State of Montana
Case Number: 19-0533
Issue:
  • Allocation
State:
  • Montana

In its brief, UP argues that the District Court correctly held that NIC owes the State a complete defense and indemnity for long-tail asbestos claims under the “all sums” language in its insurance policy. That holding is consistent not only with the insurance policy language;…
Allianz Global Risks US Insurance Company et al. v. ACE Property & Casualty Insurance Company, et al.
Year: 2020
Court: In The Supreme Court of the State of Oregon
Case Number: 120404552
Issue:
  • Policy Interpretation
State:
  • Oregon

In its brief, UP weighed in to assist the Oregon Supreme Court in ruling on a dispute related to claims for long-tail coverage for environmental clean-up under policies with a variant of the standard “sudden and accidental” pollution exclusion. UP urged the court to correct…
ADIR International, LLC v. STARR Indemnity and Liability Co.
Year: 2020
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Case Number: 19-56320
Issue:
  • Duty to Defend
State:
  • California

People and companies that buy insurance to protect themselves from the cost of being sued by others, including by governments (as is the case here), depend on that insurance to pay for their legal representation. Without that vital coverage, many insureds will have no meaningful…
Fadeeff v. State Farm General Insurance Co.
Year: 2020
Court: First District Court of Appeal, Division 2
Case Number: A155691
Issue:
  • Bad Faith
State:
  • California

One of UP’s Platinum sponsors, Kerley Shaffer, LLP, obtained a reversal of summary judgment in favor of an insurance company in a bad faith claim. Fadeeff v. State Farm General Insurance Co involved the application of the “genuine dispute” rule – a rule that allows…
In Re Solera Insurance Coverage Appeals
Year: 2020
Court: Supreme Court of the State of Delaware
Case Number: N18C-08-315 AML CCLD
Issue:
  • Notice-prejudice
State:
  • Delaware

In its brief, UP argues that a liability insurer cannot deny coverage for a policyholder’s defense costs solely because the policyholder did not seek the insurer’s consent to incur those costs in advance when the delay did not have any prejudicial impact on the insurer.…
Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp. v. Manor House LLC
Year: 2020
Court: Supreme Court of Florida
Case Number: SC19-1394
Issue:
  • Citizens
  • Consequential Damages
  • Remedies
State:
  • Florida

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (“Citizens”) was created by the Florida legislature as a government entity and serves as an insurer of last resort. As such, it abides by slightly different rules than other private insurers in the admitted market. Notably, Citizens is statutorily immune from…
Hicks v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.
Year: 2020
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Case Number: 19-5719
Issue:
  • Labor Depreciation
State:
  • Kentucky

This lawsuit concerns deficient actual cash value (ACV) payments. Plaintiffs challenge State Farm’s method of calculating ACV and, in large part, challenge State Farm’s depreciation of labor. In its brief, UP first argues that the “costs of repair or replacement” language in the ACV loss…
Accardi v. Hartford Underwriters Insurance Co.
Year: 2019
Court: Supreme Court of North Carolina
Case Number: 42A19
Issue:
  • Labor Depreciation
State:
  • North Carolina

In its brief, UP argues against the wrongful depreciation of labor. This issue has been litigated throughout the country, and states have been split on the outcome. For the carriers that do depreciate labor, many have filed coverage forms that expressly outline the practice. This…
Villanueva et. al. v. Fidelity National Title Company
Year: 2019
Court: Supreme Court of California
Case Number:
Issue:
  • Title Insurance
State:
  • California

In its brief, UP argues that the Court of Appeal incorrectly decided a case involving unfiled title insurance rates, and that if upheld, could negatively impact consumers across multiple lines of insurance. First, UP argues that the insurance code section in question does not provide…
Apollo Education Group, Inc. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburg, PA
Year: 2019
Court: Supreme Court of Arizona
Case Number: CV-19-0229-CQ
Issue:
  • Consent to Settle
State:
  • Arizona

In its brief, UP argues for the applicable standard to apply in Arizona when determining whether an insurer unreasonably withholds consent to an insured’s settlement with shareholders in a breach of contract under a policy where an insurer has no duty to defend. UP argues…
McLaughlin v. Travelers Commercial Insurance Company
Year: 2019
Court: Supreme Court of the State of Washington
Case Number: 97652-0
Issue:
  • Policy Interpretation
State:
  • Washington

In its brief, UP argues that this Court should review the Court of Appeals opinion because it substantially narrows the rights of Washington insurance consumers in ways inconsistent with this Court’s decisions and the state’s declared public policy. First, the Court of Appeals ignored Washington’s…
CSAA Insurance Exchange, etc. et al. v. Oscar Herrera
Year: 2019
Court: Supreme Court of California
Case Number: S256799
Issue:
  • Course of Events Clause
State:
  • California

In its letter, UP argues that review is warranted in the above-named case. UP argues that future consideration and reliance on the CSAA opinion, particularly the “course of events” analysis, could deprive California policyholders of liability coverage for unintentional and accidental acts and conduct. The…
Emmis Communications Corporation v. Illinios National Insurance Company
Year: 2019
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Case Number: 18-3392
Issue:
  • Claim Reporting
State:
  • Indiana

In its brief, UP argues against the panel’s decision that would force insurance agents, reporting under a D&O policy at an early stage of litigation, to judge whether a claim is “related” to an earlier claim and select among potentially triggered policies the one policy…
Cosgrove v. National Fire & Marine Insurance Company
Year: 2019
Court: United States District Court for the District of Arizona
Case Number: CV-14-02229-PHX-HRH
Issue:
State:
  • Arizona

In its memorandum, UP argues that the court’s partial summary judgment opinion must be unsealed unless the insurance company has a “compelling reason” to seal it, and no compelling reason exists here. The insurer first argues that if the opinion is unsealed, it could subject…
Ortiz v. MeadWestvaco Corporation, et al v. JV Industrial Companies, Ltd., et al
Year: 2019
Court: Supreme Court of Louisiana
Case Number: 2019-C-01123
Issue:
  • Notice-prejudice
State:
  • Louisiana

In its brief, UP argues that an insurance company must establish that the events leading to the outcome of an underlying case actually prejudiced the insurance company in a manner that would not have happened had the insurance company received timely notice of the claim.…
Dakota Girls, LLC v. Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Co.
Year: 2020
Court: United States District Court Southern District of Ohio Eastern Division
Case Number: 2:20-cv-02035
Issue:
  • COVID-19
State:
  • Ohio

In its brief opposing Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company’s Motion to Dismiss, UP argues that contamination, suspected contamination, and/or the imminent threat of contamination of COVID-19 all constitute “physical loss and damage” under a property insurance policy. Structural alteration of the property is not required for…