My maternal grandfather, Pasquale Cupito, was a legend. I have far too many stories to list here, but one of them involves a giant garbage can lid that he used as a cooking utensil. See, he could make a mean homemade pizza, but there was never enough to keep everyone satisfied. One day he concluded
Product liability
Policy rescission because of misrepresentations on an insurance application
By Gene Killian on
There’s an old joke about lawyers and clients.
A man is flying in a hot-air balloon and realizes he’s lost. He spots a guy down below. He lowers the balloon and shouts, “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised my friend I would meet him half an hour ago, but I don’t know where…
Is “occurrence” an ambiguous term?
By Gene Killian on
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…
Insurance coverage for asbestos-related liabilities
By Gene Killian on
Every once in a while, I wonder where the last 30 years have gone, and I think about all the cases and clients that we’ve handled during that time. A lot has changed since I started practicing law. In the old days, for example, we actually relied upon a dictation pool! We would dictate our…
Coverage for class action settlements
By Gene Killian on
Here’s a fairly frequent scenario in the insurance world. The carrier takes a “no- pay” position on a liability claim. The policyholder settles the case and then seeks reimbursement from the carrier in a coverage suit. What exactly does the policyholder have to prove in order to get paid?
In Fireman’s Fund v. Security Ins.