Written by: Jacob Raehn, Esq. In the final days of summer, Federal District Courts from every corner of The United States have laid down orders both for, and mostly against, allowing plaintiffs’ COVID-19 business interruption claims to continue against their insurers. Thus, making the “unprecedented times” we are living in a thing of the recent past – at least when it comes to a roadmap for determining how courts

Written by Duane L Cochenour, Esq. and Caitlin E. Correa, Esq. Hundreds of declaratory judgment actions have been filed across the country seeking business interruption coverage for shutting down businesses due to the coronavirus. It is shaping up as one of the biggest coverage battles in years with billions of dollars of losses at stake. On July 1st, a Michigan Circuit Court issued the first ruling in any of

Written by: Elizabeth Fulton Morrison, Esq. On October 15, 2015, a truck driver crossed the center line and collided with two different vehicles, one after the other. The facts established that the truck driver truck did not correct the truck's path before striking the second vehicle. Grange Insurance, who insured the truck, sought injunctive relief in the Northern District of Georgia for purposes of determining its obligations under the commercial

Written by: Asya-Lorrene Morgan, Esq. and C. Michael Johnson, Esq. Overnight, COVID-19 created a need for a large teleworking population, which has left businesses more vulnerable to phishing schemes and other malicious cyber activity. The recent increase in remote desktop protocols ("RPDs") has created a 127% increase in exposure endpoints.[1] Failure to reassess cyber threats in relation to the current pandemic may subject insurers to a floodgate of cyber

By: Tyler J. Pritchard,Esq.  and C. Michael Johnson, Esq. The outbreak of the Covid-19 virus has affected businesses all over America, ranging from mom-and-pop restaurants to multi-billion-dollar industry leaders. The forced closing and limitation of operations is likely to lead businesses to turn to every possible source of economic relief – one of the most likely being business interruption insurance. A recent suit filed in Louisiana[1], is the first

Written by: Mark Maholick, Esq. The case Hunter v. Progressive Mountain Insurance Company, ---S.E.2d--- 2020 WL 255361 (GA App. Jan. 17, 2020) recently reaffirmed the statutory obligations of an automobile insurance carrier in issuing a UM endorsement on a policy and failed to allow Plaintiff's counsel in expanding those requirements beyond the statutory framework provided by O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11. Prior to January 1, 2009, Georgia only had one type of

Written by: Duane Cochenour, Esq. and Bill Daniel, Esq. The Georgia Court of Appeals recently held that an insurer’s request for clarification as to which insureds are released in a pre-suit, policy-limit demand amounted to a counteroffer and rejection of the demand. In Yim v. Carr, 349 Ga. App. 892 (2019)[1], plaintiff Patricia Carr was involved in an automobile collision with defendant Jenny Yim. As a result of the

Written by: R. Wells Littlefield, Esq. In Principle Solutions Group, LLC v. Ironshore Indemnity, Inc., 17-11703, 2019 WL 6691509, (11th Cir. Dec. 9, 2019), a split 11th Circuit Court of Appeals panel affirmed summary judgment in favor of Principle Solutions, providing coverage for the Atlanta-based IT staffing firm's $1.7 million loss in a fraudulent instruction transfer scam, despite potential intervening events and questions as to foreseeability and causation. This case

Written by: Beth Kanik, Esq. Merriam Webster  defines a “binder” as a person or a machine that holds something together. In 2019, the Washington Supreme Court in an en banc opinion expanded that definition to apply to a certificate of insurance (“COI”) In so doing,  the certificate holder was qualified as an additional insured when language in the actual policy never said as such and language in the actual

Written by: C. Michael Johnson, Esq. and Patrick Fitzgerald, Esq. In ACCC Ins. Co. of Ga. v. Walker, 2019 WL 4198535 (Ga. Ct. App. Sept. 5, 2019), ACCC Insurance Company of Georgia ("ACCC") took the rather extra-ordinary step of filing its declaratory judgment action ("DJ") to determine coverage for an automobile collision on the same day that assigned defense counsel filed the answer on behalf of the insured. When