Back in the halcyon days of insurance coverage litigation (before many defense-oriented judges began to view themselves as Guardians at the Gate of the Insurance Industry), New Jersey courts would occasionally hand down landmark decisions to protect the policy-buying public from sharp practices by carriers. One of those decisions was Griggs v. Bertram, 88

When I was a kid in Maplewood, New Jersey, our next-door neighbor was a feisty Irish widow named Anne Byrne.  (She was related to our former Governor, Brendan Byrne, but I forget how.)  When I would do something stupid, which usually involved putting some kind of ball through one of her windows, she would grab

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

My father-in-law (who worked for DeLorean Motors long ago) once told me that success in business was simply a process of accumulating whip marks.  Succeeding in the law is no different.  Here’s a whip mark I got a few months ago, and which you can avoid by always paying your insurance premiums on time