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Third Circuit: Excess Insurer Need Not Prove Prejudice in Order to Enforce a Claims-Made and Reported Requirement
In a 2-1 opinion, the Third Circuit recently affirmed summary judgment in favor of an excess medical malpractice insurer in a case involving both policy construction and evidentiary issues. In Lexington Insurance Company v. Western Pennsylvania Hospital, et al., 2005 WL 2174003 (3d Cir. 9/9/05), West Penn Hospital had three layers of medical malpractice coverage. The first layer was a primary policy issued by PHICO. The PHICO policy provided both general liability, on an occurrence basis, and medical malpractice coverage on a claims-made and reported basis. The next layer was $1 million worth of excess coverage provided by the Pennsylvania Medical Professional Liability Catastrophe Fund (the “CAT Fund”). Lexington issued an excess policy over those first two layers. The CAT Fund coverage was also claims-made and reported.
The Lexington policy had a pre-printed umbrella form that was occurrence-based for general liability, and had two relevant endorsements. The first, Endorsement 007, provided follow-form claims-made medical malpractice coverage. The follow-form language was as follows:
Insofar as coverage is available to the Insured in the underlying insurance set forth in the Schedule of Underlying Insurance, this policy applies to liability arising out of medical incidents. All of the terms and conditions of said underlying insurance shall apply to this insuring agreement except as otherwise expressly stated herein.
The underlying insurance identified in the Schedule of Underlying Insurance was the PHICO policy.
New York's Latest Cybersecurity Commitment
On Aug. 9, 2023, Gov. Kathy Hochul introduced New York's inaugural comprehensive cybersecurity strategy. In sum, the plan aims to update government networks, bolster county-level digital defenses, and regulate critical infrastructure.
Law Firms are Reducing Redundant Real Estate by Bringing Support Services Back to the Office
A trend analysis of the benefits and challenges of bringing back administrative, word processing and billing services to law offices.
Bit Parts
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Risks of “Baseball Arbitration” in Resolving Real Estate Disputes
“Baseball arbitration” refers to the process used in Major League Baseball in which if an eligible player's representative and the club ownership cannot reach a compensation agreement through negotiation, each party enters a final submission and during a formal hearing each side — player and management — presents its case and then the designated panel of arbitrators chooses one of the salary bids with no other result being allowed. This method has become increasingly popular even beyond the sport of baseball.