Faced with mounting claims for insurance coverage as a result of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, commercial insurers are likely to search for any policy provision that they think will enable them to avoid paying virus-related claims.  One provision that insurers ultimately may invoke in an attempt to deny such claims is the so-called “pollution exclusion” – an exclusion that can be found in both commercial general liability (CGL) insurance policies and property insurance policies. …

Experian Data Breach Resolution (Experian) has identified its “top data breach trends of 2020,” and the cannabis industry should take note. In its “Data Breach Industry Forecast 2020,” Experian predicts that “we will see many burgeoning industries, such as cannabis retailers, cryptocurrency entities, and even some environmental organizations targeted for cyberattacks as a result of online activism or ‘hacktivism.’” In recognition of this risk, cannabis retailers as well as other cannabis-related businesses should – in…

Reviewing philosopher Mark Rowlands’ 2012 work Can Animals Be Moral?, Jessica Pierce wrote in the Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, “The question, ‘Can animals be moral?’ has suffered the worst kind of philosophical denial: an almost complete lack of interest by ‘serious’ philosophers.” No longer.  In an effort to apply “general canon[s] of contract interpretation,” the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania – in a recent insurance-coverage opinion of all places – implicitly…

It has long been acknowledged that typical Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) policies exclude coverage for “wage and hour” claims.[1] [2]  However, a recent California Court of Appeal decision, Southern California Pizza Co., LLC v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London Subscribing to Policy Number 11EPL-20208,[3] narrows the definition of what is a wage and hour claim, and improves the possibility of obtaining coverage for broad-brush wage and hour claims that tack on…

Like any business, a business operating in the U.S. cannabis industry needs both first-party and third-party liability insurance.  Unlike other types of businesses, however, a cannabis-related business’ insurance needs may be dictated at least in part by state regulations.  Although not every state that has legalized cannabis for medical and/or adult use has promulgated specific insurance requirements for this industry, a number of states, via their cannabis regulations, have done so.  Accordingly, it is imperative…