I once had a coverage case that involved a claim for environmental contamination at a chicken farm. (Yes. A chicken farm. In New Jersey.) When we were able to pry the claim file loose in discovery, we noticed that the carrier had spent a grand total of $24 to investigate the complex pollution claim, which
Evidence
Additional Insureds and Certificates of Insurance
A few months back, I got a call from the general counsel of a construction company. His employer was the general contractor in a construction defect case, and he needed some advice with respect to the applicable “additional insured” coverage. “Now, you do know about this stuff, right?” he asked. “I don’t want to have…
How to prove a business interruption loss
I once heard a veteran of the complex commercial litigation wars describe the process as follows. “Each side hires an expert,” he said, “and the preponderance of perjury prevails.”
A cynical – if funny and unfortunately too-often-accurate – view. Recognizing that expert witnesses are, in essence, paid advocates, the Supreme Court formulated the Daubert and…
Concurrent Causation and Superstorm Sandy
As the Sandy-related insurance disputes develop along the New Jersey coast, we’re seeing what we anticipated: general liability and homeowners’ carriers are disclaiming coverage on the ground that the damage was caused by flood, and is therefore excluded. Policyholders, on the other hand, are trying to establish that a good portion of the damage wasn’t…
Bad Faith Insurance Claims Handling
Here’s a question that perhaps should be posed to a magician: How can an insurance company turn an $85,000 claim (on a policy with a $100,750 applicable limit) into an $850,000 bad faith verdict? If you’re Merrimack Mutual, apparently it’s quite easy.
I wrote about this case some time ago when the jury verdict first…
Business Interruption Insurance
I’m getting ready to speak at an ABA-TIPS conference on the topic of business interruption insurance. Given the number of horrible tragedies we’ve been through in the past decade (prayers for all those affected by the earthquake in Japan), it’s certainly a timely subject.
To cut to the chase: Business interruption insurance is designed to…