In National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa. v. Mead Johnson & Co., the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana awarded summary judgment in favor of insurers on the issue of late notice. The court held that the insured’s notice of an underlying lawsuit seven weeks after a jury returned a $13.5 million verdict against the insured breached the notice provisions of the policy as a matter of law. The court held that the breach extinguished any potential for coverage under the policies.

Scott L. Carey and Matt M. Murphy were Planning Committee Members for Indiana Rail Road Company’s Railroad Liability Conference held July 11-13, 2012 at The Venetian in Las Vegas. Click here for more information.

On June 7, 2012, BatesCarey LLP hosted the summer meeting of Insuralex, a worldwide network of independent insurance and re-insurance representatives. The agenda included discussions on international maritime risks such as kidnap and ransom insurance, as well as U.S. bad faith issues, and the global impact of recent natural catastrophes.

Adam Fleischer was featured speaker at the Gen Re 2012 Claims Seminar in Stamford, Connecticut on June 19, 2012. Adam addressed “Excess and Primary Insurer Rights and Obligations: Who’s Making Who Drop Down and For What?” The topic included include: the extent of an insurer’s duty to investigate; an excess insurer’s obligation to drop down and defend; drop down obligations over an insolvent primary insurer; drop down obligations over properly or improperly exhausted primary coverage; and an excess insurer’s rights of equitable subrogation.

On August 2, 2007, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts explained that, even though an excess insurer agrees to follow the wording of a primary insurer, this does not necessarily mean the excess insurer is bound by the primary’s interpretation of that wording.

BatesCarey LLP recently won an unprecedented ruling for its insurance company client in the Illinois Appellate Court. The liability insurer argued that it had not approved of the settlement of a claim against its insured and that, therefore, the settlement and dismissal order prepared by defense counsel was not binding. The Illinois Appellate Court agreed and the case has now been returned to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing to determine if the defense attorney had the insurer’s authority to settle the case. Robinson v. Ryan, et al., No. 1-06-1813 (March 29, 2007 1st Dist.)

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Ommid C. Farashahi spoke at American Conference Institutes 17th Annual D&O Liability Conference on October 21-22, 2013 in New York, New York. Mr. Farashahi will be a panel speaker discussing topics impacting claims strategies for managing liability risks. Links to the conference agenda, a list of speakers, and registration information for the conference can be found here.

Andrew W. Smith spoke about insurance claims resolution at the American Bar Association's Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California on August 9, 2013.  The American Bar Association's Annual Meeting runs from August 8-13, 2013, and features numerous agenda items, CLE seminars, and presentations concerning the practice of law. More information concerning the conference as well as registration information can be found here.

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