I was lucky enough to be invited to speak at a CLE conference in New York last week on the subject of mass torts. (Full disclosure: I was on the wedding “B list.” My good friend Jeff Pollock, a fantastic policyholder-side lawyer, had to cancel at the last minute because of professional commitments, and
Toxic Tort
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…
Developments in insurance coverage for asbestos-related liabilities
By Gene Killian on
I’m not sure which is more grimly entertaining: watching old advertisements for cigarettes (see here), or watching old advertisements for asbestos products (see here). If you’re an executive in the front office of a company that acquired an asbestos manufacturer, however, you might fail to appreciate the dark humor. A few years back,…
Insurance insolvency and allocation-of-loss
By Gene Killian on
A few years back, we wrote about the New Jersey Supreme Court’s decision in Farmers Mutual Ins. Co. v. New Jersey Property-Liability Guarantee Assn. In Farmers, the Court held that, in the context of long-tail claims, any damages or defense costs allocated to insolvent policies could not be assigned to the policyholder.
When…
Beware the differences between indemnity agreements and insurance policies
I used to know a guy who worked for a major, nationally known public adjustment company. In years where there were no major hurricanes or tornado incidents, he would literally walk around looking like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He never overtly wished death or destruction on anyone (as far…
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…
Assignment of insurance policies in bankruptcy
By Gene Killian on
Asbestos defendants who file for reorganization under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and seek to establish a personal injury trust for the payment of claims may transfer their liability insurance recovery rights to the trust even if the insurance policies include provisions barring the transfer of such rights, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third…