Insurers and policyholders alike need to take a close look at the duty to defend in the wake of the recent decisions in Gull Industries and Jorgensen Forge Corporation. Washington Courts have long held that
CGL policies are the foundation of most commercial insured’s liability coverage. But in addition to CGL coverage, the prudent insured will also buy specialized liability coverage depending on its exposure. These coverages may include professional
Two well-established judicial rule of insurance policy construction are that (1) clear and unambiguous policy language must be enforced as written, and (2) the entire policy must be construed together so as to give force
I recently assisted a coalition of business interests and insurers to address bills in the Oregon legislature which would adopt insurance bad faith causes of action in that state. Oregon law has not recognized extracontractual
Introduction The duty of good faith and fair dealing does not apply to the insurer only. But because the insurance industry is so heavily regulated, one might mistakenly believe that to be the case. Instead,
In Channel Construction, Inc. v. Northland Services, Inc. (a case decided last month), Judge Coughenour (of the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Washington) held that the work product doctrine does not protect
Exclusions based on a policyholder’s knowledge are notoriously hard to resolve at summary judgment. Judge Robart, in Washington’s Western District, demonstrated this in his recent decision in Anderson v. Country Mutual Insurance Company, 2015 WL
Readers of the Insurance Commando Blog know we criticize Washington’s Supreme Court for proscribing insurers from looking outside the complaint to determine if they must defend. To provide some perspective, and useful information, this week
Past contributors to the Insurance Commando Blog have expressed their frustration with Washington’s rigid “eight corners” rule in duty to defend cases. See, e.g., The Elephant in the Room. This rule generally states that insurers
You do not have to be a Washington lawyer to appreciate the complexity, and sometimes confusing, “ongoing operations” exclusion – j.(5) – in a CGL policy. This installment of the Insurance Commando Blog happily discusses
