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LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Insurance Disputes Legal News
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• No Coverage Owed For Malpractice Claim; Policy Did Not Violate Louisiana Statute
  NEW ORLEANS - A medical malpractice insurer owes no coverage for an underlying malpractice claim because its claims-made policy did not violate Louisiana's statutory prescriptive period of one year for filing a claim by limiting its liability to those claims that occurred and were reported while the policy was in effect, the Louisiana Supreme Court said Dec. 2 (Carl Hood v. Mark M. Cotter, M.D., No. 2008-c-0215 c/w 2008-c-0237, La. Sup.; 2008 La. LEXIS 2754; See 1/9/08, Page 11). Full story on lexis.com
• No Coverage For Claims Arising Out Of Patient's Actions, Federal Judge Says
  PITTSBURGH - A professional liability insurer has no duty to defend its insureds in an underlying wrongful death action because the underlying suit alleges claims arising from a patient's actions and not claims related to the injury or death of the patient, a federal judge said Dec. 8 (Selective Way Insurance Co. v. RHJ Medical Center Inc., et al., No. 06-1211, W.D. Pa.; 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98950). Full story on lexis.com
• Policy Excludes Coverage For Misappropriation Of Funds, Federal Judge Says
  DENVER - A professional liability insurer owes no coverage for an attorney's alleged misappropriation of funds because the policy clearly excludes coverage for misappropriation of funds in addition to any claim arising out of a criminal act, a federal judge said Dec. 3 (Greenwich Insurance Co. v. The Daniel Law Firm, et al., No. 07-2445, D. Colo.; 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98625). Full story on lexis.com
• Policy Sublimit For Sexual Misconduct Applies To Patient's Claims
  ST. PAUL, Minn. - Because all of the allegations in an underlying complaint against a psychologist involve a patient's sexual relationship with the psychologist, an insurer is not responsible for paying more than the policy's $25,000 sublimit for wrongful acts involving sexual misconduct, the Minnesota Court of Appeals said Nov. 18 (Laura Nelson v. Randall Voeks and Everest National Insurance Co., No. A07-2010, Minn. App.; 2008 Minn. App. Unpub. LEXIS 1337). Full story on lexis.com
• Insurer Has Duty To Defend; Doubt Must Be Construed In Insured's Favor
  ATLANTA - An insurer has a duty to defend its insureds against underlying negligence, false imprisonment and assault claims stemming from a sexual assault because there are reasonable bases for supporting and rejecting the insurer's duty to defend and any doubt must be construed in favor of the insured, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Nov. 25 (First Specialty Insurance Corp., v. 633 Partners Ltd., Baye Contracting Inc., and Fatima Smith, No. 07-14922, 11th Cir.; 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 24173). Full story on lexis.com
• Settlement Without D&O Insurers' Consent Not Entitled To Indemnity
  SAN FRANCISCO - An insured seeking coverage for an underlying settlement with its shareholders is not entitled to indemnity because the insured breached its policies' consent clause by negotiating and executing the underlying settlement agreement without the insurers' consent, a federal judge ruled Dec. 1 (Crowley Maritime Corp. v. Federal Insurance Co., et al., No. C-08-00830, N.D. Calif.; 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97393). Full story on lexis.com
• Warranty Letter Excluded Acts For Which Insured Had Prior Knowledge
  DENVER - An excess directors and officers (D&O) liability insurer has no duty to pay additional costs for the defense of an underlying securities action because the policy's warranty letter excluded claims arising from an act of which the insured had prior knowledge, and there is evidence that the insured had prior knowledge of the claim at issue, a federal judge said Nov. 21 (Louis E. Rivelli, et al. v. Twin City Fire Insurance Co., No. 08-1225, D. Colo.; 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 99678). Full story on lexis.com
• No Coverage Owed For Mortgage Losses; Signature Is Not Defective Or Invalid
  OMAHA, Neb. - No coverage is owed under a financial institution bond because the bond's fraudulent mortgages insuring agreement rider requires that the signature on the deeds of trust be defective or invalid and there is no evidence that the signature at issue is defective or invalid, a federal judge said Dec. 9 (TierOne Bank v. Hartford Fire Insurance Co., No. 07-3199, D. Neb.; 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 99262). Full story on lexis.com
• E&O Policy's Intellectual Property Exclusion Applies To Claim For Lost Fees
  BOSTON - An errors and omissions (E&O) insurer owes no coverage to its insured for a third-party's conduct in misappropriating a client's trade secrets because the policy's intellectual property exclusion bars coverage for the third-party's conduct and the loss of attorney fees would not have been incurred if it weren't for the third-party's actions, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court said Dec. 2 (Joseph F. Finn Jr., v. National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pa., No. SJC-10153, Mass. Sup.; 2008 Mass. LEXIS 794).