I’ve been a trial lawyer for over 30 years, and I think I need to point out that corporate/transactional lawyers aren’t real lawyers. If you haven’t been on the receiving end of an evidence ruling that makes you wonder whether the judge attended law school in a Winnebago, then I’m sorry, you may be a
Occurrence
Yes, construction defects are covered “occurrences” in New Jersey
Are you the parent of a teenager? Have you ever been the parent of a teenager? If the answer to either of those two questions is yes, have you ever felt like you’re banging your head against the wall? You think you’re speaking plain English, but they’re just not getting it.
That’s the way I…
Is “occurrence” an ambiguous term?
There’s a famous (apocryphal?) story about Cato the Elder, one of the leaders of ancient Rome. Cato was obsessed with destroying Carthage (now Tunis), the Roman Empire’s rival. He would end every speech (and apparently most conversations) with “Carthago delenda est” – Carthage must be destroyed. The story goes that when Demosthenes (a prominent Greek…
More developments in insurance coverage for construction defects
Back in the days of the environmental insurance coverage wars, we on the policyholder side argued (eventually successfully in New Jersey) that the word “sudden”, as used in the 1973 version of the pollution exclusion, meant “unexpected” and did not have a temporal connotation. My friends in the defense bar often criticized us for trying…
Insurance coverage for construction defects
The ongoing battles over construction defect coverage remind me of the good old days in the ‘80’s and ‘90s when we used to fight over asbestos and environmental coverage claims (we still have some of those claims, but to a much lesser extent). Construction defects even involve battles over the appropriate trigger of coverage! Ah…
Insurance Coverage for Alleged Intentional Harm
I’ve sometimes commented on this blog that my first boss in the business warned me: “If you assume there’s no coverage, you won’t find any.” There are plenty of risk managers and brokers who believe that general liability insurance coverage exists primarily to protect against people falling down in the parking lot. Not suprisingly, many…
Construction Defects and the “Your Work” Exclusion
My old law partner Carl Salisbury is on the warpath against carriers’ efforts to escape construction defect coverage. He has some interesting things to say about a recent pro-carrier South Carolina decision. You can read Carl’s excellent blog post by clicking here. (I promise not to call them “business risk” exclusions any more,
When is a “reservation of rights” letter enforceable?
Lawyers and insurance companies are forever reserving their rights. Sometimes I think it’s a reflex action against ever being forced to take an actual position. But in the world of insurance coverage, “reservation of rights” letters do serve a function. Insurance companies fear that if they undertake the investigation or defense of a claim, for example…
Completed operations coverage for construction defects
When I was in grammar school, the class wise guy was a kid named Nicky DeLuca. One day, we were in gym class, and the coach was trying to teach us the importance of fundamentals in basketball.
“You have to have a strong foundation,” the coach said. “It’s like building a house. You have to…
Determining the number of “occurrences”
There’s an old story about famous Greek orators. When Demosthenes would speak, the people would say, “My, what a pretty speech!” But when Cato would speak, the people would say, “On to Carthage.” That’s because Cato was a one-issue guy (“Carthage must be destroyed”), and was excellent at convincing his listeners of the need for…