The Texas Supreme Court confirmed that it will decide an issue of Texas law that was certified to the Court by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The case is McGinnes Industrial Maintenance Corporation v. The Phoenix Insurance Company; The Travelers Indemnity Company. The issue is whether…
New Jersey’s Appellate Division recently reversed a trial court’s dismissal of a general contractor’s claim against a performance bond, holding that the bond must cover the general contractor as the intended obligee, even though the general contractor was not expressly named in the bond. In Allied Building Products Corp. v.…
The United States District Court for the District of Oregon held that property damage incurred to a condominium project resulting from a myriad of construction defects constituted just one occurrence under the relevant excess general liability policy. In Chartis Specialty Ins. Co. v. American Contractors Ins. Co. Risk Retention Group…
Zurich has updated its “Litigation Management Guidelines” to give the insurer an unprecedented level of control over defense counsel’s activities. The new Guidelines adopt the Recommended Case Handling Guidelines for Insurers created by The Defense Research Institute, and also append an extensive Addendum covering business policies, expense and professional fee…
On June 23, 2014, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in the case Dormitory Authority of the State of New York v. Continental Casualty Company (2014 WL 2808073), a declaratory judgment action filed by a building owner against the architect’s insurance carrier over the faulty design of…
Hard Hat Workforce Solutions, LLC v. Mech. HVAC Servs., Inc., 406 S.C. 294, 750 S.E.2d 921, 922 (2013). How confident are you that the payment bond your subcontract required you to obtain falls within your state’s payment bond statutory scheme? In Hard Hat Workforce Solutions, LLC v. Mech. HVAC Servs.,…
Today, Pillsbury attorneys Ray Sweigart and Jeff Kiburtz published their advisory titled An American Policyholder in London: English Choice of Law Clauses in United States Insurance Policies. The Advisory identifies a few of the issues on which English law is notably different from prevailing law in the United States and…
Pillsbury attorneys Robert L. Wallan, and Alyson R. Parker published today their advisory titled Shamrock Shake: St. Patrick’s Day Earthquake in Los Angeles Is a Reminder to Check Your Property Insurance Policy on the heels of a 4.4-magnitude earthquake that shook L.A. County out of bed at 6:25 a.m. on St.…
On Thursday, March 13, a California Court of Appeal found substantial evidence that State Farm General Insurance Co. (State Farm) had a duty to defend North Counties Engineering Inc. (North Counties) under a policy that included products-completed operations coverage notwithstanding that the policy also included a professional services exclusion. The…
One of the first tactical lessons most litigators learn is not to overstate your position. Another lesson is to always remain civil, even in the face of an un-civil opponent. These lessons are sometimes difficult for young lawyers, brimming with aggression, to digest. Most of the time when one of…