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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...

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Denton In Post v. St. Paul Travelers Insurance Co., 691 F.3d 500 (3d Cir. 2012), the Third Circuit, discussing a prior, nonprecedential Third Circuit case, Gallatin Fuels, Inc. v. Westchester...

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...

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...

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, ...

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...

By William T. Barker & Ronald D. Kent, Partners, SNR Denton Sanderson v. American Family Insurance Co. [1] affirmed summary judgment for an insurer on bad faith, but asserted that the fact that the claim was “fairly debatable” was...

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...

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'...

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Denton In Post v. St. Paul Travelers Insurance Co., 691 F.3d 500 (3d Cir. 2012), the Third Circuit, discussing a prior, nonprecedential Third Circuit case, Gallatin Fuels, Inc. v. Westchester...

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...

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...

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...

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...

By William T. Barker & Ronald D. Kent, Partners, SNR Denton An insurer's duty to defend is usually determined based on the facts alleged within the four corners of the complaint against the insured. Various jurisdictions allow or require consideration...