National Insurance Law Forum

This blawg is intended to facilitate discussion and an exchange of ideas and information among insurance industry professionals, risk managers, attorneys, policyholders, students, and others with an interest in the development of American insurance law.

Author: Michael F. Aylward is a senior partner at the Boston office of Morrison Mahoney; Christopher W. Martin is a partner in the Houston office of Martin, Disiere, Jefferson & Wisdom; Kevin T. Merriman is counsel at Ward, Norris Heller & Reidy in Rochester, N.Y.; Diane Polscer is managing partner of Gordon & Polscer in Portland, Ore.; Sara M. Thorpe is a partner at Gordon & Rees' San Francisco office.

Blawg Related Categories: Insurance Law • Partner

Recent Posts from National Insurance Law Forum

The Increasing Trend to "Set Up" Carriers (and the Inability (or Unwillingness) of Courts to Do Much About It)
Efforts by policyholder lawyers to "set up" a carrier to make a decision which will enable the lawyer to prosecute a bad faith claim are nothing new. The trend, however, seems to be increasing across…
Hurricane Ike Insurance Litigation: Will It Be As Bad As Katrina?
It didn’t take long for the first bad faith suits arising from Hurricane Ike to be filed in Texas. Last week, the first two Ike bad faith lawsuits that I am aware of were filed in…
Can't Have It Both Ways: ELI Coverage and Workers' Comp Exclusion
While not a new development, this case is a reminder that logic and common sense prevail in evaluating coverage, even in the face of tragedy. The California Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District…
Insurer Burned By Insured's Waiver of Right To Payment Credit
The Ninth Circuit, applying California law, issued a decision which charts new territory on the handling of workers’ compensation claims, and announces an approach contrary to enforceability of voluntary payment provisions in insurance policies. In…
Washington Supreme Court Reverses Court of Appeals' Ruling that an Insurer Should be Allowed to "Litigate to Finality" Defenses
In Mutual of Enumclaw Ins. Co. v. T&G Construction, Inc., 2008 Wash. LEXIS 1041 (Oct. 23, 2008), the Supreme Court of Washington was “asked to balance the interests of an insured defendant in reaching a…
Oregon Supreme Court Requires Auto Insurer to Reimburse Insured for Residual Diminution in Value
In Gonzales v. Farmers Insurance Company, 2008 Ore. LEXIS 965, 1 (2008), the Supreme Court of Oregon considered the extent of an insurer’s indemnity obligation where repairs failed to restore an insured vehicle to its…
Seventh Circuit Limits Application of Duty to Settle
When is a policyholder not an insured? That was the issue considered by the Seventh Circuit last week in Iowa Physicians’ Clinical Medical Foundation v. Physicians’ Ins. Co. of Wisconsin, No. 08-1297 (7th Cir. October…
Ninth Circuit Upholds Punitive Damages Award Reduction, Agrees Evidence Such That Jury Could Have Found Insurer Acted With "Evil Mind"
In Leavey v. Unum Provident Corporation, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 2114 (9th Circuit October 6, 2008), the Ninth Circuit in an unpublished decision affirmed an Arizona federal trial court’s reduction of a jury’s $15 million…
Minnesota Court Rejects Coverage For Spyware Claims
A recent opinion of the federal district court in Minneapolis has for the first time construed the extent of liability insurance coverage for “spyware” claims. At issue in Eyeblaster, Inc. v. Federal Ins. Co., No.…
Maine Judge Rejects Insurer's Recoupment of Settlement Contribution
The dispute with respect to whether insurers may recoup costs of settlement has moved north to the State of Maine. In American National Fire Ins. Co. v. York County, No. 2:06-cv-200 (D. Me. October 20,…