Back in the 80s and 90s, during the environmental insurance coverage wars, each side (insurance companies and policyholders) frequently accused the other of trying to insert imaginary language into insurance policies after losses had happened. Many lawyers put their kids…

I once had a coverage case that involved a claim for environmental contamination at a chicken farm. (Yes.  A chicken farm. In New Jersey.)  When we were able to pry the claim file loose in discovery, we noticed that the…

Earlier this month, I woke up to the sound of sirens and the smell of smoke. My neighbors and friends from around the block suffered a catastrophic fire, and lost their home and all of their belongings, escaping with literally…

In our last post, I talked a bit about the dangers of arbitration clauses in insurance policies.  I wanted to continue to develop that topic. Joseph Stalin supposedly once said: “Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything.”  He was…

According to the American Arbitration Association’s website, “arbitration—the out-of-court resolution of a dispute between parties to a contract, decided by an impartial third party (the arbitrator)—is faster and more cost effective than litigation.”

Yeah…don’t be too sure about that. …

In the world of insurance, computers are the new “environmental.”

Let me explain. Back in the 1980s, the insurance industry, recognizing the magnitude of exposure it faced for environmental liabilities, embarked on a public relations campaign to convince courts and…

Sadly, it’s a scenario I’ve seen far too many times in the past 30 years of doing insurance coverage work. A trusted employee in the bookkeeping or accounting department isn’t properly supervised or audited, and begins siphoning off cash to…