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A recently passed Wyoming law, [subscribers can access an enhanced version of this bill: lexis.com | Lexis Advance ], now criminalizes certain kinds of data collection: specifically, unauthorized collection of natural resource data. The new Wyoming Senate...

By Jessica J.O. King The Clean Air Act requires EPA to regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants from coal-fired power plants if the agency determines that such “regulation is appropriate and necessary” after studying the hazards the...

When governments do little to enforce environmental laws, generally or in particular areas, private citizens and environmental groups sometimes try to fill the gaps with private prosecutions. These cases are burdensome and expensive to handle, but can...

Welcome to the 14th annual look back at the year’s ten most significant insurance coverage decisions. As I always do at the outset, here is my description of the selection process (repeated from past years’ editions). The process is highly...

In its recent decision in Cox Operating, L.L.C. v. St. Paul Surplus Lines Ins. Co., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 13318 (5 th Cir. July 30, 2015), [subscribers can access an enhanced version of this opinion: lexis.com | Lexis Advance ], the United States Court...

I have spent fourteen years coming up with a list of the ten most significant liability coverage cases of that year. In all that time it never occurred to me, until now, to put together a list of the ten most significant coverage cases of all-time. These...

It has become difficult to find a pollution exclusion case that warrants discussion. In general, while each case is different, they also often have so many similarities. As a result I’ve resorted to discussing cases that address whether the pollution...

When it comes to how insurers have fared in Indiana, in their attempts to enforce the pollution exclusion, they are the mouse inside the boa tank at the pet store. Ironically, it could be the exact opposite. All insurers have to do is draft the pollution...

It has become difficult these days to find a pollution exclusion case that warrants discussion. In general, while each case is different, they also often have many similarities. Does the exclusion apply narrowly and only to traditional environmental pollution...

Pollution Exclusion cases have become so abundant, and similar, that I’ve taken to limiting my discussion of them in Coverage Opinions to the ones that are truly unique. (See CO, __ (trust me)). Mellin v. Northern Security Insurance Co., No 2014...

Everyone wants to live peacefully and happily in their homes. When a neighboring business causes fumes to travel to your property and make you live with noxious odors the chance to live peacefully and happily is lost. Litigation becomes certain and insurance...

By Jennifer Kalnins Temple In O’Byrne et al. v. Farmers’ Mutual Insurance Company (Lindsay) , 2014 ONCA 543, the Ontario Court of Appeal has forced an insurer to pay for a fuel oil cleanup after a spill, despite a pollution exclusion clause...

One of the things that makes the pollution exclusion such a fan-favorite is that its applicability is sometimes tested against unusual substances, i.e., ones that don’t necessarily shout pollution when come across. For example, just since 2011,...

When it comes to coverage principles this one is as black as coal: the duty to defend is broader than the duty to indemnify and if an insurer does not have a duty to defend, it does not have a duty to indemnify. But in Texas it can be a different story...