Sadly, it’s a scenario I’ve seen far too many times in the past 30 years of doing insurance coverage work. A trusted employee in the bookkeeping or accounting department isn’t properly supervised or audited, and begins siphoning off cash to support gambling debts, a drug habit, or expensive tastes. Sometimes, the employee starts taking cash
Gene Killian
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Understanding business interruption insurance
By Gene Killian on
Posted in Business Interruption
Math has never been my strong suit. My wife, who has an M.B.A., sometimes shakes her head at my unsuccessful attempts to balance our checkbook. And I still remember sitting in my 10th Grade Algebra class with Ms. Babiak at Watchung Hills Regional High School back in the ‘70s and wishing that I could…
Insurance coverage for allegations of fraud
By Gene Killian on
Few things are certain in life. Death. Taxes. The ineptitude of New York Mets management. And also, the fact that if you sue an insurance company in state court, and the carrier has a basis upon which to remove the case to federal court, they’re going to do it. Insurance companies think that federal judges…
The liability of insurance brokers and agents
By Gene Killian on
Posted in Brokers and agents, Property insurance
The fine people who wrote the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (and their state equivalents) certainly had a sense of humor. FRCP 1, for example, says: “These rules govern the procedure in all civil actions and proceedings in the United States district courts…They should be construed, administered, and employed by the court and the parties…
Can an insurance company be liable for bad faith in settling a liability suit?
By Gene Killian on
I like to think I’m pretty fair and impartial in these blog posts. I said that to a friend of mine in the defense bar who apparently reads my ramblings, though, and she laughed at me. I suppose I have a classic case of confirmation bias, where I think that insurance companies often forget what…
Employment practices liability insurance and wage-and-hour claims
By Gene Killian on
When we started our law firm 22 years ago, a colleague gave me some very sage advice (which I guess came from bad experience): Get your accounting straight from day one, and keep it straight. To this day, whenever a fellow professional asks me about going out on his or her own, I give the…
Is Lloyd’s of London a racketeering enterprise?
By Gene Killian on
Posted in Brokers and agents
I have a fair amount of experience in litigating coverage disputes under Lloyd’s of London policies. Let’s just say that, because of the labyrinthine structure of the organization (if it IS an “organization”), pursuing coverage under Lloyd’s policies can be like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall.
You can’t just sue “Lloyd’s of London,”…
Forum selection clauses in insurance policies
By Gene Killian on
My wife has been pestering me to get out of an unused gym membership for some time. See, as a lawyer, I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I neglected to read the small print in the contract. It said that, unless I canceled in writing, the contract would automatically renew for one-year terms (kind of…
New Developments in Insurance Broker Liability
By Gene Killian on
We had a broker liability case not long ago involving a manufacturing facility on the banks of the Hudson River that got wiped out by Sandy. The client had no flood coverage. We argued that, under the particular circumstances of the case, the broker had an obligation to price the market for flood coverage, and…
Demands for insurance policy limits in a serious liability case
By Gene Killian on
Earlier this month, I was asked by Elizabeth Lorell, an excellent defense lawyer, to speak at a CLE conference sponsored by her law firm. (You can read Elizabeth’s bio here.) The audience consisted of other defense lawyers, and insurance company claims representatives. In other words, I was basically a snake at a mongoose convention.…