THE MAYERSON FIRM PLLC

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

While insurance-coverage law has developed into a rarefied specialty practice, lawyers who handle the defense of liability cases cannot punt on considering coverage issues—or they risk malpractice claims by their disgruntled clients. The New York Appellate Division confirmed that defense counsel may face such a claim for failing to investigate the possibility of excess coverage—even where defense counsel has been retained by another insurance company for the benefit of the in