Pause, Pay, or Proceed: Statute of Limitations and Filing Suit After the LA Wildfires

Keith A. Meyer and Kya R. Coletta | Reed Smith On January 7, 2025, wildfires raced across Los Angeles, forcing families to evacuate and leave their belongings and heirlooms behind. Many insureds promptly filed claims under their homeowners’ insurance. Some policyholders have already been paid their policy limits. Others continue to fight over sub-limits and… Continue reading Pause, Pay, or Proceed: Statute of Limitations and Filing Suit After the LA Wildfires

Insurance Claims and the LA Fires

Megan Carrasco and Richard Erickson | Snell & Wilmer Insurance has always been a critical backdrop in risk analysis. This is because when buying insurance, “an insured usually does not seek to realize a commercial advantage but, instead, seeks protection and security from economic catastrophe.”1 Insurance is in place for fundamental risk and loss but is… Continue reading Insurance Claims and the LA Fires

Delaware’s Supreme Court Addresses What Constitutes a “Claim for Damages”

Ezhan Hasan | Wiley Rein The Supreme Court of Delaware has held that a letter received by an insured from an attorney purporting to represent unidentified plaintiffs and forecasting future litigation did not constitute a “claim for damages” under a claims-made policy. Zurich Am. Ins. Co. v. Syngenta Crop Prot., LLC, 2024 WL 763418 (Del. Feb.… Continue reading Delaware’s Supreme Court Addresses What Constitutes a “Claim for Damages”

Beyond Inverse Condemnation in Wildfire Litigation: An Oregon Jury Finds Utility Liable for Negligence, Trespass and Nuisance

Marisa Miller, John Yacoelle and Kazim Naqvi | Construction & Infrastructure Law Blog On June 10, 2023, a jury in Portland, Oregon found PacifiCorp and Pacific Power (collectively, “PacifiCorp”) liable for negligence, trespass, and nuisance based on a series of four wildfires that occurred during Labor Day weekend in 2020. PacifiCorp prevailed against the plaintiffs… Continue reading Beyond Inverse Condemnation in Wildfire Litigation: An Oregon Jury Finds Utility Liable for Negligence, Trespass and Nuisance

Giving Insurance Carrier Prompt Notice of Claim to Avoid “Untimely Notice” Defense

David Adelstein | Florida Construction Legal Updates When it comes to giving your insurance carrier notice of claim, I am an advocate of providing that notice as soon as possible, i.e., prompt notice. The reason is to take away the carrier’s argument to deny coverage because you, as the insured, failed to provide it with prompt… Continue reading Giving Insurance Carrier Prompt Notice of Claim to Avoid “Untimely Notice” Defense