In Zurich v. Ison T.H. Auto Sales, 2011 ONSC 1870, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice was faced with a dispute between an insurer and insured over who had control over a recovery action. The loss arose from an explosion and fire that occurred at an apartment building. The insured, an automobile dealer, was storing...
A recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals case included favorable holdings for subrogating carriers on the types of damages recoverable in maritime cases. The case, Oswalt v. Resolute Industries, Inc., 2:08-cv-01600-MJP (June 16, 2011), stemmed from a fire on a vessel that originated at a heater that was being repaired by Resolute Industries. The vessel...
In March, we discussed the importance of pleading common law duties separate and distinct from a builder’s contractual duties in order to preserve tort-based construction defect actions under Michigan law. In its opinion released June 6, 2011, the Michigan Supreme Court recently reinforced but fine-tuned this advice in Loweke v. Ann Arbor Ceiling & Partition...
A fire sprinkler system is supposed to suppress fires. But, in August 2009, a fire sprinkler system in an apartment complex in Truckee, California did just the opposite. The fire began as a grease cooking fire. Then, a fire sprinkler system with a reported 71.2% concentration of glycerin antifreeze deployed during the fire. The resulting...
The Washington Court of Appeals recently ruled that a seller may be the sole party held strictly liable for a manufacturing defect if the product is sold under the seller’s brand or trade name. In 2007, Monika Johnson was riding in downtown Seattle when the carbon fiber fork of her bicycle (which attaches the frame...
On May 26, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arkansas delivered an opinion on spoliation in a case that may be of interest to subrogation professionals. The Court clarified the law of spoliation in Arkansas and held that a finding of bad faith is not required for a spoliator to receive an adverse jury instruction. The...
In the United States, there are only 6 jurisdictions that continue to bar recovery for a plaintiff if their own negligence contributed in any way to the cause of their injuries- Virginia, Maryland, South Dakota, Alabama, the District of Columbia and North Carolina. (South Dakota does allow recovery where the plaintiff’s negligence is slight in...
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has recently clarified its interpretation of the procedure for removing a case to federal court in Barbour v. International Union, No. 08-1740, 2011 WL 242131 (4th Cir. Jan. 27, 2011). Courts strictly construe the removal statutes, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1441 and 1446, to limit the jurisdiction of federal courts. Doubts...
Property insurers are all too familiar with losses caused by defective products. Some product defects are isolated instances, affecting only one unit, but in today’s era of mass production and of use of component parts supplied by third-party vendors, defects that affect every unit of a particular product are commonplace. When a systemic defect is...
On April 21, 2011, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) announced a recall of about 1.2 million Marineland “Stealth” and “Stealth Pro” aquarium heaters. The subject aquarium heaters are Marineland “Stealth” brand heaters of various model numbers and wattages, sold through their parent company, United Pet Group. The heaters were sold at pet stores...