How airtight is a confidentiality provision in a settlement agreement?   In a recent case out of Florida, the court protected a confidential settlement agreement from disclosure to a remaining party.    Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Nicolette Strachan et al., ___ So. 2d __, 36 Fla. L. Weekly D2262, Case No. 4D11-2539 (Fla. 4th DCA Oct. 12, 2011). However,...

A newly released study addresses the CSST failure scenario and suggests significant testing in an effort to “mitigate” it. The report, which is 267 pages is entitled, Validation of Installation Methods for CSST Gas Piping to Mitigate Lightning Related Damage. The report was issued by the Fire Protection Research Foundation, a group that consists of...

Defective car cases can be challenging to pursue.   When the car is subject to a recall, recovery potential usually improves.  If the vehicle’s owner knew about the recall and had the repairs done, do not despair—many times those repairs are inadequate. One example is the defective Ford speed control deactivation switches.   The switches have been...

Subrogating the discarded cigarette case can burn out quickly or really catch fire.  If your insured caused it, subrogation may be a problem.  But when a defendant causes it, potential subrogation, right?  Perhaps.  Take, for example, the case of a store clerk who throws a discarded cigarette on the pine needles that serve as a landscaping...

As subrogation professionals, we see spoliation of evidence typically used as a defense by defendants who claim they did not get a chance to examine certain evidence. But sometimes we face the problem of a third party, sometimes the insured or its public adjuster or sometimes another insurance carrier, that is blocking access to evidence...