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Expansion of Insurer Claw-Back Initiatives
A question routinely asked about liability insurance claims seems clear and straightforward on its face: “Is the claim covered?” Because “coverage,” however, typically invokes two concepts, rather than one, such a question often is superficial and misleading. Liability insurance policies, particularly at the primary and umbrella levels, usually provide both defense and indemnity coverage. Each coverage is quite valuable to policyholders, and the defense coverage can be the much more valuable of the two, particularly when underlying cases are complex and, accordingly, expensive to defend, but present little or no prospect of policyholder liability.
Of these two types of coverage, defense coverage also is widely understood to be the broader. In other words, a policy may provide defense coverage but, ultimately, no indemnity coverage. Such variances arise from the nature of “notice” pleading and the unpredictability of underlying litigation. Under “notice” pleading utilized in federal courts and most state courts, it often is difficult and sometimes impossible to discern with precision at the outset of litigation the full nature of all underlying claims against the policyholder. Even when such claims can be discerned with precision, it often is impossible to know at the outset which of the claims, if any, will be successful against the policyholder. When these factors all play out, it is common for insurers to have to pay defense costs but not indemnity costs. Hence, it is said that defense coverage is broader than indemnity coverage.
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.