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Triggering Excess Insurer Duties Without Full Payments by Primary Insurers
During recent years, insureds have faced a wide range of claims with potential liability exceeding the limits of their primary insurance policies. In such a setting, excess insurers typically argue that their duties are not triggered unless and until the primary policy has paid its limits. Such arguments should not be readily accepted. Excess insurers owe duties even before primary policies have exhausted. And, when a primary insurer settles with its insured, excess insurers may be obligated to pay under their policies even if the settlement was for less than the primary policy's limits.
Courts have repeatedly rejected any notion that an excess insurer owes no duties to its insured until a primary policy is exhausted. For example, California courts have recognized the wide range of duties that an excess insurer owes its insured before a primary policy exhausts. See, e.g., Kelley v. British Commercial Ins. Co., Ltd., 221 Cal. App. 2d 554, 562, 34 Cal. Rptr. 564 (1963) (duty to participate in settlement discussions when potential settlement may invade limits of liability); Armstrong World Indus., Inc. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 45 Cal. App. 4th 1, 85, 52 Cal. Rptr. 2d 690 (1996) (duty to accept reasonable settlement); Schwartz v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 88 Cal. App. 4th 1329, 1338, 108 Cal. Rptr. 2d 523 (2001).
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTs
A federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners
Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.
Coverage Issues Stemming from Dry Cleaner Contamination Suits
In recent years, there has been a growing number of dry cleaners claiming to be "organic," "green," or "eco-friendly." While that may be true with respect to some, many dry cleaners continue to use a cleaning method involving the use of a solvent called perchloroethylene, commonly known as perc. And, there seems to be an increasing number of lawsuits stemming from environmental problems associated with historic dry cleaning operations utilizing this chemical.