Today the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of 4.8 million Lasko box fans. The recall notice reports “an electrical failure in the fan’s motor poses a fire hazard to consumers.” The CPSC cites a “barn fire resulting in extensive property damage” as a basis for the recall. This barn fire turned into...

Tort claims arising from construction defects often falter in the looming presence of a contract. The existence of a contract is particularly challenging for the plaintiff who is not in contractual privity with the defendant. Under Michigan law, the distinction between duties owed by a contractor arising from a contract and those arising in the...

Residential construction defects are common occurrences in Illinois where numerous homes and condominiums quickly went up before the housing bubble burst.  Illinois’ expansion of the economic loss doctrine has made alleging tort theories against builders and vendors (those that sell) of houses very difficult.  Nonetheless, there may be express or contractual warranties from the builder...

Many states, including Pennsylvania, recognize that once a property insurer has paid its insured for a property damage loss, that insurer owns a separate and independent cause of action against the tortfeasor responsible for causing the damage. See State Farm v. Ware’s Van Storage, 953 A.2d 568 (Pa. Super 2008). In Ware’s Van Storage, State...

Although issues between primary and excess carriers regarding who is entitled to what in a subrogation recovery do not arise often, when they do they can involve substantial sums and interesting issues. Last fall the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit addressed such issues under Missouri law. The underlying case involved an...

Has your cause and origin investigator concluded that a carelessly discarded cigarette started a fire? If so, you should determine the location from which and manner in which the cigarettes were bought. If the cigarette at issue was not “fire safe”, there may be a small time-frame left within which to pursue a subrogation claim...

Many states have enacted laws requiring homeowners, with claims of construction defects, to follow certain procedures prior to filing a lawsuit against a builder. The procedures generally require that before a homeowner initiates construction defect litigation, it must notify the builder of the claims, allow the builder an opportunity to remedy the defects, pay the homeowner...

Punxsutawney Phil may have predicted an early spring in 2011, but by no means have we seen the end of claims involving pipe freeze-ups and storm-related roofing collapses for the season. Despite the fact that Old Man Winter is not a viable subrogation target, there may be more subrogation potential in these claims than you...

On February 4, 2011, the Nebraska Supreme Court, in the case of Dobrovolny v. Ford Motor Company, 281 Neb. Reports 86, addressed the issue of “whether the economic loss doctrine applies when a product self-destructs without causing damage to persons or other property.” The Court addressed the previous decisions by both the Nebraska Supreme Court...

On January 20, 2011 the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) announced a voluntary recall of Propane (LP) Gas, manufactured by Aux Sable Liquid Products of Morris, Illinois.  The affected propane was sold in portable cylinders and delivered to storage tanks.  The problem with this estimated 700 rail car units of propane gas is that...