It’s not often that the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on insurance issues. That’s because the McCarran-Ferguson Act gives states the primary authority to regulate the business of insurance. So when the Supreme Court speaks on...more
In Santa Fe Braun v. Ins. Co. of North America (No. A151428, filed 7/13/20), a California appeals court relied on Montrose Chemical Corp. of California v. Superior Court (2020) 9 Cal.5th 215 (Montrose III), to hold that...more
In Montrose Chemical Corp. v. Superior Court, 2020 WL 1671560 (April 6, 2020), the California Supreme Court held that, when one primary policy exhausts in a continuing injury claim, the excess insurer sitting above that...more
In a long-running environmental case, the state’s high court rejects insurers’ theory of so-called horizontal exhaustion. California Supreme Court hands policyholders a victory in latest Montrose case and upholds...more
On April 6, 2020, the California Supreme Court issued a decision that held a policyholder is entitled to access available excess coverage under any excess policy once it has exhausted directly underlying excess policies for...more
In a landmark decision with significant implications for policyholders and insurers dealing with high exposure, continuous injury claims, the California Supreme Court held in Montrose Chemical Corp. of California v. Superior...more
In Montrose Chemical Corp. v. Superior Court (No. B272387; filed 8/31/17) (Montrose III), a California appeals court found that excess insurance is not triggered for continuous and progressive losses until there has been...more
“Long-tail” claims involve personal injury or property damage from alleged exposure to injury-causing products, such as asbestos or PFCs, over a number of years and multiple policy periods. Courts in various jurisdictions use...more
On May 3, the New York Court of Appeals unanimously held that an “all-sums” method of allocation should be used to apportion liability among excess insurers based on the policy language at issue in the case. Contrary to...more
The New York Court of Appeals recently answered two certified questions from the Delaware Supreme Court concerning insurance allocation, and the Court’s answers may impact significantly policyholders litigating “long-tail”...more
For more than two decades, the problem of allocating the costs of long tail claims – such as environmental and asbestos claims – among multiple insurance carriers has generally been resolved in one of two ways. Courts in...more
Horizontal Exhaustion Not Required for Excess Policies in New York - Why it matters: A Delaware superior court recently predicted that New York’s highest court would not require policyholders to horizontally...more
Nearly two years ago, the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District issued a decision that upheld the concept of horizontal exhaustion of primary liability policy limits before triggering the obligation of...more