Liability Coverage
Liability insurance makes two core promises: to defend the policyholder against suits seeking covered damages, and to pay covered judgments and settlements. Most coverage disputes over general-liability, umbrella, excess, and specialty liability policies concern one or both of those promises.
For nearly forty years, Marc Mayerson has represented policyholders in disputes over commercial general liability, umbrella and excess, product liability, D&O, professional liability, and other liability coverages. He has written extensively on the issues that recur.
The duty to defend. In most states, a complaint that alleges facts that could, if proved, produce a covered judgment requires the insurer to defend, and that duty continues until the insurer shows no possibility of coverage remains. We press insurers to honor the duty promptly. When they refuse, we pursue the full cost of the defense the policyholder was forced to fund, including against after-the-fact challenges by "legal-fee auditors." We also resist insurer efforts to recoup defense costs they have already paid.
Control of the defense and settlement. Insurers that defend under a reservation of rights do not acquire unlimited control. Questions of independent counsel, of an insurer's duty to consent to reasonable settlements, and of the effect of settlements that disavow liability frequently decide how much the policyholder ultimately recovers.
Notice and cooperation. Policyholders lose coverage more often by mishandling notice than by the wording of exclusions. We help clients give timely, complete notice and involve insurers appropriately as claims develop.
Excess and umbrella towers. Large losses implicate layered programs. Disputes over exhaustion, attachment, and allocation among layers, and over when excess insurers can be sued, require coordinated strategy across the entire tower.
Additional insureds and shared coverage. Contracting parties routinely share insurance through additional-insured endorsements. We advise both named insureds and additional insureds on the scope of that protection and on obtaining a defense when it is uncertain whether the claim falls within it.
The Mayerson Firm PLLC usually resolves these disputes through negotiation, and litigates or arbitrates when negotiation fails. We also review liability programs before a claim arises so that gaps are identified while they can still be fixed. See Policy Drafting Assistance and Underwriting.
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