The Fifth Circuit Joins the Majority of Circuits in Holding the Availability of Class Arbitration is an Issue to be Decided by the Court, Not an Arbitrator
The door to class arbitration, and class actions generally, continues to be pushed closed. In its 20/20 Communications, Inc. v. Crawford decision issued at the end of July of 2019,…
Notice Clauses in Insurance Policies, the South Carolina Supreme Court’s Neumayer Decision, and Construction Defect Cases
In its Neumayer opinion issued at the end of July, the South Carolina Supreme Court resolved an issue specific to an automobile liability insurance policy but in doing so, alluded…
California Court Holds that “Care, Custody or Control” Exclusion in Additional Insured Endorsement Only Bars Coverage for AI Where There Was Exclusive or Complete Control
A general contractor (“GC”) was covered as an additional insured on its roofing subcontractor’s commercial general liability (“CGL”) policy. In a construction defect action related to roofing, the insurer refused…
The U.S. Supreme Court Further Restricts the Availability of Class Arbitration
In its 2010 decision in Stolt-Nielsen, the United States Supreme Court held that a court may not compel class arbitration when an arbitration agreement is silent on whether class arbitration…
Tenth Circuit Finds Ambiguous and Interprets in Favor of the Insured “That Particular Part” Language in CGL Policy Exclusions j(5) and j(6)
In MTI, Inc. v. Employers Insurance Co. of Wassau, 913 F.3d 1245 (10th Cir. 2019), the Tenth Circuit addressed the language “that particular part” in exclusion j(5) and j(6) in…
Fourth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment for Defendants in Product Defect Case on Failure to Show Defect or Causation
Plaintiffs brought product defect claims against an auto manufacturer alleging that the manufacturer’s vehicles experience unintended acceleration. The district court granted summary judgment for the manufacturer after excluding the opinions…