By William T. Barker, Partner, SNR Denton LLP The Estate of Aurora Espinal-Cruz obtained a $20 million wrongful-death judgment against Deanza Jones, who had been Aurora's foster parent, after Jones's insurers had refused a $600,000 policy... Read More
By William T. Barker & Ronald D. Kent, Partners, SNR Denton In Post v. St. Paul Travelers Insurance Co., 691 F.3d 500 (3d Cir. 2012), the Third Circuit, discussing a prior, nonprecedential Third Circuit case, Gallatin Fuels, Inc. v. Westchester... Read More
By William T. Barker, Partner, SNR Denton LLP The Millers purchased a home with severe preexisting water and mold damage which they and their home inspector failed to detect. In Miller v. Safeco Insurance Co of Am., the Seventh Circuit held that... Read More
By Ronald D. Kent, Partner, SNR Denton In Hoover v. Maxum Indemnity Co., the Georgia Supreme Court held that a liability insurance coverage disclaimer could not reserve a right to assert additional grounds later. If taken literally, this apparently... Read More
By William T. Barker and Daniel E. Feinberg, Attorneys, SNR Denton Homeowners' insurance commonly excludes coverage for the insured's "business pursuits," often said to be those involving (1) a continuous or regular activity, ... Read More
By William T. Barker, Partner, SNR Denton The insurer's duty of good faith, and the liabilities that flow from breach of that duty, play an important role in insurance law. The duty was first developed in the context of liability insurance to... Read More
By William T. Barker, Partner, SNR Denton An insurer normally has subrogation or reimbursement rights when the losses it has paid are recoverable from a third party, but typically these rights are qualified by a requirement that its insured must be... Read More
By William T. Barker & Ronald D. Kent, Partners, SNR Denton In Pedicini v. Life Insurance Co. of Alabama, 682 F.3d 522 (6th Cir. 2012), the Sixth Circuit held that the relevant language in a medical insurance policy was ambiguous and further... Read More
By William T. Barker & Ronald D. Kent, Partners, SNR Denton In Nease v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., an excess insurance case, State Farm promptly tendered its $25,000 limits. The claimant's attorney requested a statement... Read More
By William T. Barker, Partner, SNR Denton DeMarco v. Travelers Insurance Co. applied Rhode Island's unique standard for an insurer's duty to settle to multiple claims exceeding limits. In doing so, it adopted the minority rule that such... Read More
By William T. Barker, Partner, SNR Denton Most jurisdictions hold that a liability insurer that assumes control of its insured's defense without reserving a right to deny indemnity can be estopped from asserting indemnity coverage defenses that... Read More
By William T. Barker, Partner, SNR Denton LLP At one time, Kentucky held that an insurer would be liable to its insured for an excess judgment if the insurer's failure to settle exposed the insured to an unreasonable risk of such a judgment... Read More
By William T. Barker, Partner, SNR Denton Ordinarily, when a liability policy has a self-insured retention ("SIR"), the insurer's duty to defend does not attach until the SIR is exhausted. But, in American Safety Casualty Insurance... Read More
By William T. Barker, Partner, SNR Denton In Texas Mutual Insurance Co. v. Ruttiger ,[1] the Texas Supreme Court limited the estracontractual claims available to injured workers regarding payment of workers compensation benefits and foreshadowed... Read More