I really like a good theme. I can’t help it – it’s the trial lawyer in me. Frankly, I not only like a good theme in an opening and closing at trial, but in an oral argument on appeal or in an appeal brief. Themes help tremendously with communication, particularly in litigation.
So it won’t
My “Five Favorites for Friday” series is quickly becoming one of my favorite undertakings. It’s a terrific opportunity for me to go back over the stories and videos that have crossed my desk during the week, and think about what they mean for my practice, my clients and the readers of my blog. Hopefully, you
Insurance coverage lawyer Geoffrey Fehling had a great LinkedIn post concerning a Massachusetts court dismissing class action claims against Liberty Mutual because of the failure of plaintiffs’ counsel to identify and then name the correct Liberty Mutual affiliated insurance companies as defendants. I wanted to add three points to it which, in their absence, could
Like many lawyers with expertise in insurance coverage, I was immediately contacted after the pandemic hit by business owners – often restaurant and bar owners – about seeking business interruption coverage under their insurance policies. My usual conclusion was that you could at least submit a claim and see what happens, but that, unless you
When I was in college in D.C. lo these many years ago, a friend of mine’s uncle took us out to dinner at the Watergate complex (still the only time I have ever been inside it). He had been a tech guy at HBO in its early days, when he quit on the spot over
This is a fun but dry (don’t worry – you will get the joke in a second) decision from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on whether rainwater that accumulates on a roof constitutes “surface waters” for purposes of an insurance policy. Of more practical value to most lawyers and of more interest to me, however
I didn’t want the week to end without passing along this story from Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly on the First Circuit’s decision in Lawrence General Hospital v. Continental Casualty Company. In the decision, the First Circuit reaffirmed the principle that Covid shutdowns did not trigger business interruption coverage in insurance policies, as most courts have
As usual, I had a terrific experience at DRI’s annual Insurance Coverage and Practice Symposium in midtown Manhattan, which was held last week. I had gone in many ways simply for two particular presentations, one on generative AI and the other on the impact of nuclear verdicts on insurance coverage and bad faith issues, although
FWIW,
I spoke earlier in the week at ALM’s Complex Claims and Litigation Forum in Las Vegas, where I was on a panel on “Tackling Market Disruptors – How to Manage Industry Shifts.” I spoke on a subject near and dear to my heart, which is the impact on claims handling of the rise of the