ALASKA SUPREME COURT FINDS DUTY OWED BY LIABILITY INSURER TO THIRD-PARTY CLAIMANT
Quarterly Newsletter Spring 2017 Over the years, policyholders and their attorneys have sought to assert tort claims directly against liability insurers for alleged mishandling of liability claims. While the general rule in many jurisdictions is that third party claimants have no independent cause of action against the policyholder’s liability insurer absent an assignment of rights...
Washington Supreme Court Limits the Scope of the Insurance Fair Conduct Act
Surety Law Update Spring 2017 Recently, the Washington Supreme Court narrowly interpreted the Insurance Fair Conduct Act (“IFCA”), limiting the scope of conduct that constitutes a violation under the act. In Isidoro Perez-Crisantos v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Company, the Court determined whether a violation of the insurance regulations under the Washington Administrative Code...
Washington State Legislative Alert: 2017 Regular Session
Surety Law Update Spring 2017 On January 17, 2017, the Senate introduced Bill No. 5222 for referral to the Committee on Commerce, Labor & Sports for consideration. Senate Bill 5222 proposes changes to Washington’s retainage statute, RCW 60.28.011(6), which would require a contractor on a public improvement project, at the request of a subcontractor, to...
Regulatory Hurdles and Safety Considerations Remaining for Autonomous Trucks
Introduction In case you missed it, news of the advance of driverless transportation technology abounds. Amazon made its first drone delivery on December 14, 2016, delivering an Amazon Fire TV and microwave popcorn to a customer in the United Kingdom (where the autonomous delivery technology is currently being tested). Domino’s Pizza has been testing delivery...
Defending Nighttime Trucking Accidents
A recent trend has emerged in which plaintiff lawyers attempt to turn every nighttime accident into a case of driver fatigue, poor maintenance, and corporate negligence. By understanding the unique issues involved in nighttime accidents and the science of driver fatigue, a defense can be prepared to counter these frequently baseless arguments, which are intended...
WASHINGTON FEDERAL COURT FINDS NO “OCCURRENCE” UNDER HOMEOWNERS’ POLICY BASED ON INSURED’S VIOLATION OF CONDOMINIUM BYLAWS
Quarterly Newsletter Fall 2016 Two of the most commonly disputed issues regarding coverage under the insuring clause of a homeowner’s liability policy are whether “property damage” took place, and whether such damage was caused by an “occurrence.” In a recent case in Washington, the Court adopted a broad interpretation of “property damage” under a homeowner’s...
IDAHO SUPREME COURT RULES ANTI-STACKING CLAUSE IN INSURANCE POLICY IS AMBIGUOUS
Quarterly Newsletter Fall 2016 Insurers seeking to limit their liability may include so-called “anti-stacking” language in their policies. Such policy language is designed to limit the total available coverage to one policy and prevent the insured from “stacking” multiple policies on top of each other to expand the limits of available coverage. However, despite its...
WASHINGTON COURT FINDS NO “COLLAPSE” COVERAGE DESPITE ENGINEER’S OPINION THAT BUILDING COULD NOT SUPPORT REQUIRED LOADS UNDER THE BUILDING CODE
Quarterly Newsletter Fall 2016 For decades, Washington insurers have faced building “collapse” claims despite the fact that no Washington Court had rendered a clear definition of what “collapse” meant. That changed last year when the Washington Supreme Court held in Queen Anne Park Homeowners Association v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, 352 P.3d 790...
WASHINGTON APPELLATE COURT EXPANDS APPLICATION OF IMPLIED WAIVER OF ATTORNEY-CLIENT COMMUNICATIONS DURING DISCOVERY FOR REASONABLENESS HEARING FOLLOWING A COVENANT JUDGMENT
Quarterly Newsletter Fall 2016 On July 26, 2016, the Washington Court of Appeals, Division II held that an implied waiver of attorney-client communications may occur when an insured enters into a covenant judgment with a claimant and an insurer challenges the reasonableness of the settlement. However, the Court held that, under the proper standards, the...
ALASKA FEDERAL COURT REFUSES TO NARROWLY DEFINE CONTRACTOR IN INTERPRETING AN EXCLUSION
Quarterly Newsletter Fall 2016 In a recent opinion, Judge John Sedwick of United States District Court for the District of Alaska refused an insured’s assertion that the term “contractor,” in the Contractors Exclusion, was limited to contractors in the construction industry. Instead, the Court looked to the plain and common meaning of the term and...
OREGON SUPREME COURT BARS INSURER FROM LITIGATING COVERAGE ISSUES IN SUBSEQUENT LAWSUIT FOLLOWING VERDICT IN UNDERLYING CONSTRUCTION DEFECT LAWSUIT
Quarterly Newsletter Fall 2016 Standard CGL policies limit coverage for only covered “property damage” as defined by the policy. For policies issued to contractors, however, it is not always clear whether the alleged damage constitutes covered “property damage,” or whether such damages were caused by an “occurrence” during the policy period. Oftentimes, the jury in...
Williams Kastner assists surety in defeating indemnitor’s bad faith and CPA counterclaims.
Surety Law Update Summer 2016 Williams Kastner’s Construction Litigation & Surety Practices Team is proud to announce that it recently assisted one its surety clients in defeating what is believed to be one of the largest extra-contractual claims ever asserted by an indemnitor against a surety in the State of Washington. Please click here to...