Publications

Justin Baldoni, his companies associated with the motive It Ends with Us, and certain executives of those companies (the “Baldoni Entities”) are yet again defendants in a lawsuit, this time with their Management Liability insurer Harco National Insurance Company (“Harco”), involving Blake Lively’s sexual harassment claims (“Lively Lawsuit”). Harco filed suit against the Baldoni Entities […]

The Supreme Court of Oregon recently ruled that a general contractor’s tort liability for its defective work may constitute a covered “occurrence” within the meaning of the ISO commercial general liability (“CGL”) policy, providing much needed clarity on the issue under Oregon law. However, property damage arising solely from a contractor’s contractual obligations does not constitute an accident, and thus, is not an “occurrence.”

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts recently expanded plaintiffs’ rights to bring construction defects suits in the state.  The ruling allows plaintiffs in Massachusetts to now bring suit even after the statute of repose for construction defect claims has passed if the cause of action is based on a contractual dispute rather than tort liability.

The digital era has transformed professional sports, exposing sports organizations to a new, largely unfamiliar landscape of cybersecurity and data privacy risks. The sports industry has seen a marked increase in cyberattacks over the past five years. High-profile cybersecurity breaches, including ransomware attacks, data leaks, and fraud, underscore the need for robust cybersecurity measures and […]

PUBLISHED IN THE BRIEF, VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2, WINTER 2025. © 2025 BY THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION. REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS INFORMATION OR ANY PORTION THEREOF MAY NOT BE COPIED OR DISSEMINATED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS OR STORED IN AN ELECTRONIC DATABASE OR RETRIEVAL SYSTEM WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN […]

When a policyholder feels their insurance claim has been mishandled or denied unfairly, pursuing recovery for the insurer’s bad faith is often front of mind. While many states recognize a common law and/or statutory cause of action for bad faith, the circumstances that constitute bad faith vary amongst jurisdictions.

The risks and losses associated with construction operations and property development push many insurance concepts to their limits. As a result, the construction industry has long been at the forefront of many complex insurance coverage issues and both drives but also depends on market standards to assess and adequately address risks.

Builder’s risk policies are manuscript and complex, and many contractors don’t fully understand the nuances of how and where the coverages they need come from in the policy. Time and again we see contractors taking risk contractually that builder’s risk insurance could have supported, but the policies fall short for reasons identified in the checklist. […]

Commercial general liability (“CGL”) policies providing limits on a “per-project” basis have become standard in the construction industry. General contractors and other upstream parties on large construction projects, as a rule, require downstream subcontractors to maintain CGL coverage with limits provided on a “per project” basis.

Federal and state courts tackled a myriad of interesting insurance-related issues this past year. The U.S. Supreme Court also surprisingly addressed coverage issues in 2024, in not one—but two—decisions. It is rare for the Supreme Court to confront insurance coverage issues which usually involve matters of state law. The highest court’s assessment of the nuances […]

A recent decision by the California Supreme Court has examined the applicability and use of the “illusory coverage doctrine” as a tool to interpret insurance policies. The Court also questioned whether the doctrine could invalidate unambiguous policy language. While it is undecided whether the doctrine exists, or can exist under California law, the decision seems […]

This year, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued its first-ever national, legally enforceable drinking water standard to protect communities from exposure to harmful per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), also known as “forever chemicals.”[1] In addition, the Food and Drug Administration announced that grease-proofing materials containing PFAS are no longer being sold for use in food packaging […]