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Texas Takes the Lead on Notice Disputes Under Claims-Made Liability Policies
A common requirement in both occurrence and claims-made liability insurance policies is that policyholders provide “timely notice” of an accident, occurrence, claim or lawsuit ' often “as soon as practicable.” Although specific notice provisions vary among different liability policies, the purported purpose of these notice requirements is to enable insurance companies to investigate and respond to claims. See Ostrager & Newman, Handbook on Insurance Coverage Disputes, Vol. 1, ' 4.01[a] at 135 (14th ed. 2008).
In some jurisdictions, insurance companies used to be able to successfully deny coverage based on a policyholder's failure to comply strictly with notice provisions, even if the carrier could not demonstrate any prejudice by virtue of the delay. See, e.g., Argo Corp. v. Greater N.Y. Mut. Ins. Co., 827 N.E.2d 762, 765 (N.Y. 2005); Great Canal Realty Corp. v. Seneca Insurance Co., Inc., 833 N.E.2d 1196 (N.Y. 2005); Unigard Sec. Ins. Co. v. N. River Ins. Co., 594 N.E.2d 571, 573 (N.Y. 1992); Sec. Mut. Ins. Co. v. Acker-Fitzsimmons Corp., 293 N.E.2d 76 (N.Y. 1972); Travelers Indem. Co. of Illinois v. United Food and Commercial Workers Int'l Union, 770 A.2d 978, 991 (D.C. 2001); Viani v. Aetna Ins. Co., 501 P.2d 706 (Idaho 1972), overruled in part on other grounds, Sloviaczek v. Estate of Puckett, 565 P.2d 564 (Idaho 1977); Country Mutual Ins. Co. v. Livorsi Marine, Inc., 856 N.E.2d 338, 346 (Ill. 2006); State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co. v. Cassinelli, 216 P.2d 606 (Nev. 1950). Over the years, however, courts in many jurisdictions followed the trend of relaxing those rules requiring strict compliance with notice provisions and instead applied a “prejudice” standard, particularly in disputes involving occurrence-based liability policies.
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.
Removing Restrictive Covenants In New York
In Rockwell v. Despart, the New York Supreme Court, Third Department, recently revisited a recurring question: When may a landowner seek judicial removal of a covenant restricting use of her land?
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.