The Summer 2011 Issue of New Appleman on Insurance: Current Critical Issues in Insurance Law features three timely articles on the frontiers of insurance coverage disputes: Advice of Counsel and Insurance Bad Faith: Current Contours and Criticisms... Read More
By Christopher J. Robinette, Associate Professor at the Widener University School of Law Chapter 61 provides an overview of automobile insurance law in the United States, including many matters that will be covered in greater detail in subsequent... Read More
By J. Randolph Evans, J. Stephen Berry, and Michelle F. Swiren, Attorneys, McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP The spring of 2011 has featured unusually inclement weather for the Southern states. Tornadoes tore through states from Virginia to Texas throughout... Read More
By Thomas F. Segalla Andrew J. Scholz Matthew R. Shindell Matthew D. Cabral ( Complete version of commentary with tables available to download here ) I. Introduction Nearly three decades have passed since the first mold cases made national headlines with... Read More
By William T. Barker, Partner, SNR Denton In Loudin v. National Liability & Fire Insurance Co. , 716 S.E.2d 696 (W. Va. 2011), the West Virginia Supreme Court held that policyholder making a liability claim against another insured on the policy... Read More
By Mark G. Jeffries, Associate On April 10, 2014, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals held in State ex rel. Montpelier U.S. Ins. Co. and Charleston, Revich & Wollitz LLP that the attorney-client privilege protects confidential communications... Read More
By William T. Barker & Ronald D. Kent, Partners, SNR Denton The Supreme Court has recently toughened federal pleading requirements, but those are usually thought of as impacting cases involving such subjects as securities fraud and antitrust,... Read More
By William T. Barker, Partner, SNR Denton In Oubre v. Citizens Insurance Co., a divided Louisiana Supreme Court resolved a split in the courts of appeals by holding that the statutory penalty for an insurer's failure to timely initiate loss... 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
New Appleman Insurance Bad Faith Litigation, Second Edition is a one-volume law and practice guide that discusses the duties and obligations of insurers to their insureds, and the consequences of the insurer's breach of its duty of good faith and... Read More
By William T. Barker, Partner, SNR Denton Expert opinions are admissible only if they satisfy usually stringent standards. But lay opinions are admissible in some circumstances. In James River Insurance Co v. Rapid Funding, Inc., 658 F.3d 1207 ... 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
Kentucky requires insurers to pay amounts clearly due. Under Wittmer v. Jones [ enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers ], to create a jury question, “there must be sufficient evidence of intentional misconduct or reckless disregard... Read More
By William T. Barker, Partner, SNR Denton In Kartman v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. [1], the Seventh Circuit reversed certification of a class action for allegedly improper adjustment of claims for hailstorm damage to insureds'... 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