Property

Expert Analysis

• 4 Themes From Policyholder Wins In COVID Coverage Cases

  

  As COVID-19 business interruption coverage lawsuits wind their way through state and federal courts, the broader trends emerging from the policyholder victories can assist insureds and their counsel with strategic litigation decisions, says Nicholas Insua at Reed Smith.

• Capturing Insurance Coverage For Climate Change Suits

  

  As municipalities increasingly file suits seeking damages from oil companies in connection with climate change, the companies should consider filing actions to forestall insurer denials of commercial general liability coverage based on theories of novelty or inapplicable pollution exclusions, say attorneys at Haynes and Boone.

• After Climate Rulings, Insurers May Go On Coverage Offense

  

  As climate change lawsuits progress, coverage litigation quickly follows — as evidenced by two recently filed suits, Aloha Petroleum v. National Union Fire Insurance and Everest Premier Insurance v. Gulf Oil — and insurers will likely become more proactive in seeking to limit their exposure, say Jose Umbert and Hernan Cipriotti at Zelle.

• Indirect Hurricane Ian Losses Could Be Covered By Insurance

  

  Even companies indirectly affected by Hurricane Ian — for instance, by losses in their supply chain — should review their commercial property policies as they might benefit from specific insurance clauses covering these types of losses, says William Wagner at Taft.

• Lessons From 1st COVID Biz Interruption Policyholder Verdict

  

  Robyn Anderson at Lathrop examines what made Baylor College of Medicine's recent COVID-19 business interruption case a success in Texas state court, and considers whether this first win on behalf of an insured is an outlier or a sign of more to come.

• State COVID Insurance Rulings Highlight Errors In Dismissals

  

  Recent California and Vermont decisions in favor of policyholders, along with a $48 million jury verdict in Texas, underscore the error that courts are making by dismissing COVID-19 business interruption lawsuits at the pleading stage without consideration of the facts and evidence in each case, say Joseph Niczky and Michael Levine at Hunton.

• Fla. Evidence Code Update Lowers Burden For Image Use

  

  Florida's recent evidence code change permits judicial notice of images and certain other graphics, a hugely meaningful development for litigants across a wide range of practice areas, though the effect will likely be immediately felt in property insurance cases, say Eve Cann and David Levin at Baker Donelson.

• Courts Are Not Shifting On COVID Biz Interruption Stance

  

  Although a recent Law360 guest article suggested that the pendulum is about to swing in favor of policyholders seeking business interruption coverage for pandemic-related losses, the larger body of appellate case law — applying the laws of 25 states — continues to find no coverage, say attorneys at Dentons.

• What Snap Removal Debate Means For Insurance Disputes

  

  A potential circuit split regarding the permissibility of snap removal to federal court, which allows defendants to circumvent the forum defendant rule, is particularly a concern in insurance cases due to the difficulty of removing such cases, and the perception that some state courts are more favorable to policyholders, says Greg Mann at Rivkin Radler.

• Questions Remain On Computer Fraud Coverage For Phishing

  

  There are questions regarding the applicability of computer fraud coverage to phishing scheme losses in the wake of the Ninth Circuit's decision in Ernst & Haas v. Hiscox earlier this year, with a backdrop of differing case results and evolving fact patterns over the past few years, say Robert Callahan and Melissa D’Alelio at Robins Kaplan.

• Storm Insurance Considerations For Cos. New To Florida

  

  As more and more businesses migrate to Florida, commercial property owners and tenants should carefully consider specific contract terms in order to avoid insurance issues and litigation in the event of storm damage, say Philippe Lieberman and Marko Cerenko at Kluger Kaplan.

• Business Insurance Considerations Amid Conflict In Ukraine

  

  As the conflict in Ukraine continues to wreak havoc on global business operations and supply chains, companies should carefully assess all the various types of insurance coverage that may mitigate corporate losses, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

• Recent State Rulings Buck Trend In COVID Insurance Disputes

  

  For the last two years, policyholders have been mostly unsuccessful in arguing that commercial property policies should cover losses suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but a trio of recent state court decisions suggests that the pendulum may swing in policyholders' favor, say attorneys at Reed Smith.