Year

2010
You have a fire loss at a commercial premise, and the insured’s tenant is clearly at fault for the same. Is there subrogation?  Not so fast, preparing that demand or settlement brief may be premature as there may be language in the lease precluding subrogation against the tenant. In a trilogy of cases, the Supreme Court of Canada...
Defectively manufactured drywall has been in the news for the past two years. Recently, there have been a string of favorable rulings, verdicts, and settlement for those damaged by the defective drywall.  On May 10, 2010, in the case of Germano et al. v. Taishan Gypsum, Judge Fallon, who is presiding over the Multi District Litigation,...
Have you ever experienced this scenario: Your expert has identified the cause of a loss in the United States, but the manufacturer of the failed product is overseas? If so, then you have to start thinking about issues such as how you will serve process on the overseas defendant and will the foreign defendant be subject...
PTAC fires are causing a recent stir in apartment complexes and hotels. What is a PTAC, you ask? PTAC’s are Packaged Terminal Air Conditioners/Heat Pumps. They are self contained machines installed through the wall with a sub unit for each room, which can be controlled independently. The units normally have the ability to heat as well as...
On July 29, 2010, the California Court of Appeals, Fifth District, held that an insurer waived its right to equitable subrogation when it entered into a settlement without identifying its insured or apportioning payment.  The case arose from a complicated personal injury action, causing the trial court to comment that "this is one of the...
As its name suggests, the National Fire Protection Association’s goal is to protect against fires. It is therefore not surprising that the number of fires involving corrugated stainless steel gas tubing over the last few years has caught the NFPA’s attention. In the fall of 2009, the NFPA formed a CSST Task Group. The Task Group was entrusted...
The old saying “the devil is in the details” has particular application when trying to prove a contents claim to opposing counsel or at trial. Insurance policies provide for actual cash value and replacement cost value and, with limited exceptions, the law provides for cost to repair or replace unless it exceeds fair market value. A typical claim...
On July 13, 2010, the Appellate Court of Connecticut affirmed a $664,373.02 verdict issued by a trial court sitting non-jury in 2007. Utica Mutual Ins. Co. v. Precision Mechanical Services, Inc. The case arose from a fire at the Commons Condominium Complex in Branford, Connecticut. An employee of the defendant was installing a shower diverter in one of the...
Subrogation professionals should be aware of a recent opinion in New York where computer fire modeling utilized by the defendant’s expert was held to be inadmissible.   In Santos v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., No. 000790/07 (N.Y.Sup. Ct. Jun. 28, 2010), a trial court held that the defendant had not presented sufficient evidence that...
All of us in the subrogation and recovery business are well acquainted with product manufacturers attempting to have claims thrown out of court on technical legal grounds. Almost every product liability case now involves such challenges.  Recently, a federal district court judge soundly rejected General Electric Company’s (G.E.) attempts to do just that in Louisiana. The opinion was...
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