In a recent posting I discussed the value to insureds of purchasing an endorsement adding advertising injury coverage to their commercial liability policies when they acquire or renew them because it can grant coverage of at least defense costs in some intellectual property cases, at a minimum copyright infringement claims; this is discussed at https://www.bostonerisalaw.com/archives/cat-advertising-injury.html
The Hidden Law of ERISA: An Introduction
I don’t always understand the thinking of the federal courts with regard to selecting opinions to publish and those not to publish. Certainly, I understand the criteria they seek to apply, but sometimes the end result is curious. The federal district court for Massachusetts recently chose not to publish a summary judgment opinion in the
An Interesting New ERISA Decision
Judge Woodlock of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts has issued a comprehensive 42 page summary judgment opinion concerning a challenge to the denial of benefits under an ERISA governed plan. The opinion, Kansky v. Aetna Life Insurance Company and Coca-Cola Enterprises, available on the court’s website at http://pacer.mad.uscourts.gov/dc/cgi-bin/recentops.pl?filename=woodlock/pdf/kansky%20may%201%202006.pdf,
More on Who Should Pay for the Defense of Corporate Officers and Directors
Looks like I was not the only one intriqued by the article earlier in the week in the New York Times about companies who stop paying the legal bills of their officers, directors or employees, and the effect it has on the affected individuals. The wired gc talks about it here http://www.wiredgc.com/2006/04/17/corporate-legal-defense-fees-and-cooperation/.
This is
Insuring and Litigating Design Disputes
What does design, and more particularly the rise of design in modern industrial China, have to do with ERISA and insurance? Little, something and nothing.
A little, because business liability policies often contain advertising injury coverage, which can provide coverage for copyright infringement claims in certain circumstances. You can read my very out of date
In the First Circuit, There Is No Such Thing As an Easy Conflict of Interest
The First Circuit has raised a strong bulwark over the years against challenges to the application of a strict arbitrary and capricious standard of review to cases in which the employee benefit plan at issue granted discretionary authority to the plan or the administrator. The circuit has, if anything, been hostile to attempts by participants
Funding the Defense of Corporate Directors and Officers
Directors and officers policies generally require an insurer to pay the defense costs incurred by a covered corporate officer when a claim is made against her or him. The insurer in that circumstance does not actually provide a defense, but instead, under the terms of the policies, normally must reimburse either the officer for his
Settle the claim, don’t revise the plan
My colleague, Carl Pilger, cpilger@millermartin.com, who counsels companies and others on the design, implementation and operation of employee benefit plans at Miller & Martin PLLC, http://www.millermartin.com/, in Atlanta, notes that in settling lawsuits brought by plan participants, one should avoid establishing a pattern of revising a particular plan term or requirement in a
If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, is it a claim?
When is a demand, or a threat, or another communication from a potential claimant a claim? The answer matters, particularly in corporate insurance programs built upon claims made policies. Normally, courts either apply the specific definition of the term claim contained in the policy at issue or else, in the case of a policy that
Ringing the bell twice
There is an interesting article concerning the latest developments over the case of Jurinko v. Medical Protective Corp., the largest insurance bad faith verdict in Pennsylvania history, reprinted in Law.com from The Legal Intelligencer, at http://www.law.com/jsp/law/sfb/lawArticleSFB.jsp?id=1144330160389. The article concerns the plaintiffs’ lawyers attempt to make new law that would increase the attorney’s fee