Even as briefing has begun before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court with respect to the issue of allocation, Vermont has joined the growing number of Northeastern states adopting a “time on the risk” approach in long-tail cases. In its first comprehensive assay into the murky world...
In their article Keep it Cool: Potential Coverage Defenses to “Global Warming” Lawsuits , appearing in the July/August 2009 issue of Coverage , Max H. Stern and Jessica E. La Londe discuss several potential coverage defenses to global warming liability claims. Specifically these are claims...
Shooting ranges may pose hazards to humans or the environment from lead in discharged munitions. A recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit opinion, however, dismissed a property owner’s claims seeking lead-related clean-up costs as unripe. Current property owners in Otay Land Company...
In Boston Gas v. Century Indemnity , the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently ruled that long-tail claims should be allocated on a pure “time on the risk” basis without regard to whether insurance was “unavailable” to the policyholder for part or all of the time during...
In this Emerging Issues commentary, Gabrielle Sigel and Jennifer L. Cassel of Jenner & Block discuss climate change developments in the year 2009. This recap includes regulatory, legislative, litigation and international developments. Some highlights include the EPA's proposed regulation of GHG...
By Michael Kotula , Partner, Rivkin Radler, LLP. The explosion on the Deepwater Horizon platform and rupture of an oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, and the ensuing oil spill, is likely to result in significant liability exposures for a number of companies. Here is what is currently known about the...
By Selena Linde, Partner, Perkins Coie LLP An explosion at the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010 left eleven workers dead. Each day since the explosion occurred, approximately 210,000 gallons of oil have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. The oil already...
By Charles H. Mullin, Karl N. Snow, and Noah B. Wallace, Principals, Bates White, LLC In their article appearing in the May/June 2010 issue of Coverage, “Proper Settlement Credits in All Sums Jurisdictions,” Charles H. Mullin, Karl N. Snow and Noah B. Wallace explore the question of...
By Brian J. Osias and David C. Kane, Attorneys, McCarter & English, LLP The recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has become arguably the worst in United States history. Spewing up to 30,000 barrels a day, it has surpassed even the Exxon Valdez disaster. Third parties will invariably suffer...
By John L. Watkins, Shareholder, Chorey, Taylor & Feil Last week, courtesy of my friends at LEXIS, I attended the HB Litigation Conference in Atlanta on litigation and insurance coverage issues arising from the BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The presenters included extremely well...
By Lara D. Cassidy, Koorosh Talieh, and Thomas McMahon, Attorneys, Perkins Coie The California Supreme Court's recent "all-sums-with-stacking" allocation ruling in California v. Continental Insurance Co., No. S170560, 2012 Cal. LEXIS 7324 (Cal. Aug. 9, 2012) (" California "...