Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%
Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
Duties in Event of Occurrence: Many Insurance Policies Do Not Purport to Make Notice a Condition Precedent
Insurance policies typically contain provisions requiring prompt notice to the insurance company of an event that could lead to coverage under the policy. There is a well-known split among U.S. jurisdictions as to whether an insurance company can succeed in barring coverage based on untimely notice if it has not suffered prejudice from the timing of notice. The majority and modern trend is for jurisdictions to hold that an insurance company cannot succeed on a late notice defense absent actual prejudice. See, e.g., 1 Barry R. Ostrager & Thomas R. Newman, Handbook on Insurance Coverage Disputes '4.02[c][2] (12th ed. 2004) (“Ostrager & Newman”). A minority of jurisdictions holds that notice can be treated as a “condition precedent”; that is, coverage can be barred based on late notice even in absence of any harm to the insurance company. Id. '4.02[c][1].
What is often overlooked in discussions of notice law, however, is that even when a jurisdiction permits notice to be treated as a condition precedent, this does not necessarily mean that a notice provision automatically becomes a condition precedent. General principles of contract law disfavor the interpretation of provisions as conditions precedent, and a party seeking to create one must do so clearly. The language of many standard-form policies commonly sold to policyholders does not clearly make notice a condition precedent.
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.
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?
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.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.
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.