THE MAYERSON FIRM PLLC

How Fox Paine, CVC Investments, Fire-Dex, 50 Exchange Terrace, and related decisions fit together on when a policyholder may sue its excess insurers before the underlying coverage is exhausted.

By Marc Mayerson | January 4, 2006 Defense-cost expense in major litigation (either one-shot cases or related, serial cases) can accumulate to rather substantial amounts, so naturally policyholders look to their liability-insurance policies for coverage. While most defense-cost coverage disputes concern primary-layer policies, excess insurers, too, may have obligations to perform. As discussed below, a recent Indiana appellate decision addressed coverage for defense costs und

An exclusion can appear in the renewal policy and still have no legal effect. The renewal rule protects policyholders against unannounced reductions in coverage—including, as Amway illustrates, in follow-form excess insurance.

A policy provision requiring the insurer’s consent is not a license to withhold it arbitrarily. The reciprocal duty to consent has implications for settlements, defense costs, and insurer claims of prejudice.

Appraisal can settle the value of an insurance loss without settling every dispute. Marc Mayerson examines premature demands, appraiser bias, and the policy language that determines who may serve.

A later ERISA claim can encounter a coverage gap when an insurer invokes factual overlap with earlier securities litigation. Raytheon illustrates the problem—and the limits of the court’s notice, stacking, and adverse-selection rationales.

By Marc Mayerson | August 30, 2005 For the past two decades, policyholders and insurers have been fighting over whether the cost of cleaning up hazardous-waste sites is covered under general-liability policies by arguing over the nature of that liability. The argument has tended to center on the meaning of the word “damages” and the insuring agreement’s promise to afford indemnification for the sums payable “as damages.” Departing somewhat from the standard version of these a

Jurors who expect an insurer’s runaround may normalize it rather than punish it. Policyholders must establish the standards of proper insurer conduct and prepare their claims carefully.

Insurance coverage matters most when a business faces a consequential loss, a substantial liability claim, or a dispute over who will pay for its defense. At those moments, understanding the policy is only part of the work. Counsel must also understand the underlying dispute, the client’s business objectives, and the practical choices that will shape a recovery. The Mayerson Firm PLLC represents policyholders in insurance coverage and recovery matters and advises clients navi

Trigger asks whether injury occurred during the policy period. Allocation asks what the insurer promised to pay because of that injury. The distinction matters when harm is indivisible.