{"id":892468,"date":"2017-07-05T16:21:20","date_gmt":"2017-07-05T22:21:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=892468"},"modified":"2017-07-05T16:21:20","modified_gmt":"2017-07-05T22:21:20","slug":"district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services\/","title":{"rendered":"District Court Rules \u201cProfessional Services\u201d Exclusion means Professional Services"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>R. Bruce Wallace | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nexsenpruet.com\/insights\/district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services\" target=\"_blank\">Nexsen | Pruet<\/a> | June 29, 2017<\/p>\n<p>Recently, the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina granted judgment in favor of an insurance carrier, finding the carrier did not owe a duty of defense or a duty to indemnify the insured in an underlying professional malpractice claim. In\u00a0<em>State Farm Fire and Casualty Company v. Morningside Consultants, Inc.,<\/em>\u00a0State Farm initiated a declaratory judgment action against Morningside Consultants, Inc. (MCI). MCI was the defendant in eight separate tort suits alleging, in effect, that MCI had negligently inspected several construction projects, which were rife with construction defects. State Farm had issued two policies to MCI\u00a0<em>seriatim<\/em>, which were the subject of the declaratory action. Each policy contained an exclusion for damage resulting from \u201cthe rendering or failure to render any professional services.\u201d During the policies\u2019 effective periods, MCI provided professional building inspection services.<\/p>\n<p>MCI advanced two theories in support of coverage: (1) MCI holds no professional licenses, such that it could not render \u201cprofessional\u201d services within the meaning of policies; and (2) application of the exclusion would render the two policies meaningless.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, MCI did not articulate a basis for the first argument. In fact, MCI did not provide any facts or legal precedent in support of the argument that the lack of a professional license moves the provision of inspection services beyond the ambit of \u201cprofessional services\u201d as described in the policy. In the words of the district court \u201c[n]o one, of course, would suppose, suggest, or suspect it is within the purview of this Court to take a single simple sentence in a counseled case, fashion an argument, adorn it with legal citations, and then judge the strength of its own argument.\u201d As such, the district court summarily rejected MCI\u2019s argument on this point. Moreover, the insurance policies at issue defined \u201cprofessional services\u201d to specifically exclude \u201cinspection services.\u201d So, not only did MCI fail to provide facts to support its argument, the only facts discussed by the court on this point directly contradicted MCI\u2019s position.<\/p>\n<p>The district court then moved to MCI\u2019s \u201cfutility\u201d argument, and soundly rejected it as well. In support of its second argument, MCI relied on the case of\u00a0<em>Isle of Palms Pest Control Co. v. Monticello Ins. Co. \u00a0<\/em>In\u00a0<em>Monticello<\/em>, the Court of Appeals held that the exclusion (extermination services) sought to bar coverage for the very operations the insured meant to be covered. The district court distinguished\u00a0<em>Monticello<\/em>\u00a0because that policy did not define \u201cprofessional services,\u201d unlike the MCI policy. Second, the district court found that not all claims were barred by the policy language in the MCI policy. Quoting from the insured\u2019s deposition, the district court found that MCI\u2019s owner did not seek coverage under the subject policies for mistakes in his \u201cwritten [inspection] reports,\u201d but rather for other risks associated with visiting properties during inspection appointments. Finally, the district court found that the\u00a0<em>Monticello<\/em>\u00a0policy premiums were based in part on the gross receipts from that insured\u2019s exterminating business, whereas MCI\u2019s policy premiums were\u00a0<em>de minimus.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>While\u00a0<em>Morningside<\/em>\u00a0presents a vindication for clarity and contractual interpretation, it contains three reminders for practitioners in the insurance realm. First, if you advance a position, you better support it with factual and legal arguments. Second, do not suggest a defined term in a policy means the opposite of its plain meaning. Finally, consider and articulate the risks insured versus the premium paid as a whole to assist the court in determining whether the exclusion swallows the allegedly covered risks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>R. Bruce Wallace | Nexsen | Pruet | June 29, 2017 Recently, the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina granted judgment in favor of an insurance carrier, finding the carrier did not owe a duty of defense or a duty to indemnify the insured in an underlying professional malpractice claim. In\u00a0State&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">District Court Rules \u201cProfessional Services\u201d Exclusion means Professional Services<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9914],"tags":[9895,19,57,478,10179,10180],"class_list":["post-892468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insurance-coverage","tag-advise-consult","tag-construction-defects-2","tag-duty-to-defend-2","tag-duty-to-indemnify","tag-professional-services","tag-south-carolina","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>District Court Rules \u201cProfessional Services\u201d Exclusion means Professional Services - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"the carrier did not owe a duty of defense or a duty to indemnify the insured in an underlying professional services malpractice claim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"District Court Rules \u201cProfessional Services\u201d Exclusion means Professional Services - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"the carrier did not owe a duty of defense or a duty to indemnify the insured in an underlying professional services malpractice claim\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-05T22:21:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\"},\"headline\":\"District Court Rules \u201cProfessional Services\u201d Exclusion means Professional Services\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-05T22:21:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services\/\"},\"wordCount\":601,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Advise &amp; Consult\",\"construction defects\",\"duty to defend\",\"Duty to Indemnify\",\"Professional Services\",\"South Carolina\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Insurance Coverage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services\/\",\"name\":\"District Court Rules \u201cProfessional Services\u201d Exclusion means Professional Services - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-05T22:21:20+00:00\",\"description\":\"the carrier did not owe a duty of defense or a duty to indemnify the insured in an underlying professional services malpractice claim\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"description\":\"Construction Expert Witnesses\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Advise & Consult\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"width\":162,\"height\":75,\"caption\":\"Advise & Consult\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"District Court Rules \u201cProfessional Services\u201d Exclusion means Professional Services - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"the carrier did not owe a duty of defense or a duty to indemnify the insured in an underlying professional services malpractice claim","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"District Court Rules \u201cProfessional Services\u201d Exclusion means Professional Services - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","og_description":"the carrier did not owe a duty of defense or a duty to indemnify the insured in an underlying professional services malpractice claim","og_url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services\/","og_site_name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","article_published_time":"2017-07-05T22:21:20+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@adviseconsult","twitter_site":"@adviseconsult","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7"},"headline":"District Court Rules \u201cProfessional Services\u201d Exclusion means Professional Services","datePublished":"2017-07-05T22:21:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services\/"},"wordCount":601,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Advise &amp; Consult","construction defects","duty to defend","Duty to Indemnify","Professional Services","South Carolina"],"articleSection":["Insurance Coverage"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services\/","name":"District Court Rules \u201cProfessional Services\u201d Exclusion means Professional Services - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-07-05T22:21:20+00:00","description":"the carrier did not owe a duty of defense or a duty to indemnify the insured in an underlying professional services malpractice claim","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/district-court-rules-professional-services-exclusion-means-professional-services\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"Construction Expert Witnesses","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Advise & Consult","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","width":162,"height":75,"caption":"Advise & Consult"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ztG6-3KaE","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=892468"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":892469,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892468\/revisions\/892469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=892468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=892468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=892468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}