A class action lawsuit claiming a product defect is used to recover damages for a large group of people harmed by the product. When receiving notice of a class action that may involve a product in one or more of your cases, you do have some decisions to make. If you have concerns that the...

The Right to Repair Act has reared its ugly head again. In Elliott Homes, Inc. v. Superior Court (Hicks) 2016 DJAR 11930, the Third Appellate District issued a writ of mandate ordering a stay of pending litigation until plaintiffs satisfied the pre-litigation procedures mandated by the Right to Repair Act. Plaintiffs brought a construction defect...

  On February 27, 2015, District Judge Joanna Seybert of the Eastern District of New York issued a significant and informative Decision on the issue of striking a defendant’s affirmative defenses in Allstate Ins. Co. v. Long Island Power Authority, 14-CV-0444, NYLJ 1202719533249 (E.D.N.Y., Decided February 27, 2015). The decision discusses the legal standard for...

The Illinois supreme court case Dix Mut. Ins. Co. v. LaFramboise is often used to argue against landlord-tenant subrogation claims in Illinois. Under Dix, tenants are considered co-insureds under a landlord’s property insurance policy by virtue of making rent payments unless the lease clearly says otherwise. Because an insurer can’t pursue subrogation from an insured,...

Establishing the cause of a fire through the process of elimination has been a hot topic in recent years, both among subrogation professionals as well as inside the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).  In 2011, NFPA explicitly rejected negative corpus as a reliable methodology in fire investigation.  Specifically, NFPA 921-18.6.5 (2011) provided: Inappropriate Use of...

Smartphones and tablets have radically transformed the practice of law in recent years. People are using their mobile devices more frequently today for both business and their personal lives than ever before. However, for many litigators, mobile device discovery remains an unexplored frontier. The proliferation of smartphones and tablets has changed the face of a...

So far the Winter of 2014-15 has spared much of the country from the misery of last winter, but we still have a way to go. As we have just passed the halfway point of the four month season, it’s a good time to look at collecting weather data for subrogation claims where weather may...

California Code of Civil Procedure section 664.6 was enacted in 1981 to provide a summary procedure to enforce settlements. That statute provides that a settlement may be enforced by motion either when an agreement is signed by all parties outside the presence of the court or when the settlement terms are placed on the record...

Oregon, like many states, has a statute of repose (“SOR”) that sets a time frame in which product liability lawsuits must be filed. Prior to 2009, ORS 30.905(2), the statute governing Oregon’s SOR, set an 8 year limitation period that started to run when the product was first purchased for use or consumption. The rule...

The Denver office of Cozen O’Connor recently arbitrated a construction defect caused subrogation loss which occurred during a remodel of a high end vacation residence where the insured and the general contractor had entered into an AIA form agreement, including the standard general conditions. As expected, the general contractor raised the subrogation waiver contained in...