At the end of last year the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in two consolidated cases, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha v. Regal-Beloit Corporation, No. 08-1553, and Union Pacific Railroad Company v. Regal-Beloit Corporation, No. 08-1554, to determine whether the inland portion of an intermodal shipment is subject to the Carmack Amendment even when no separate...
The Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) can be a useful tool that subrogation professionals can employ to effectively gather information to build a successful products liability claim. In cases where a loss is caused by a defective product, a simple FOIA request to the Consumer Products Safety Commission (“CPSC”) can produce a veritable treasure trove of documents of...
The flammability of approved cigarettes is of great importance to insurers as significant property damage occurs each year from carelessly discarded smoking materials. According to NFPA’s 2008 article U.S Smoking-Material Fire Problem, in 2006 over $606 million dollars of property damage occurred due to smoking materials. In order to try and reduce the number of fires related...
Colorado’s legislature is considering passing a bill that would limit subrogation in personal injury cases. House Bill 10-1186 is aimed at situations where the insured would not be made whole if the insurer was allowed to recover its payments through subrogation. In other words, if there is a limited pool of money to go around,...
Toyota’s unprecedented recall of some 8.1 million vehicles will impact consumers, businesses, and their insurance carriers all over the country. Since 1999, an estimated 2,000 complaints of sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota and Lexus vehicles have been reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ["NHTSA"]. On February 9, 2010, Toyota issued a global recall of...
The Oregon Court of Appeals once again affirmed the viability of negligent construction claims while delivering another blow to the Economic Loss Doctrine. In Cowan v. Nordyke, 232 Or.App. 384 (2009), plaintiff purchased a home from a Professional Home Designer (PHD).* Of course, the home was not without problems, including water intrusion. Plaintiff filed suit against...
The California Supreme Court in the case of Randall v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, 2009 DJD 16727 upheld the attorney-client privilege set forth in Evidence Code §954. The privilege attaches to any legal advice given in the course of an attorney-client relationship, regardless if the communication contains unprivileged material. Costco Wholesale Corporation (“Costco”), retained counsel to provide...
The Delaware Superior Court recently ruled that despite the existence of an express waiver of subrogation in a condominium association’s CC&R’s, a chimney sweep could pursue a contribution claim against the unit owner where a fire started under the Delaware Uniform Contribution Among Joint Tortfeasor’s Act. In Fireman’s Insurance Company v. Fire-Free Chimney Sweeps, Inc.,[1]...
Cozen O’Connor attorneys successfully argued in the Delaware Superior Court that the adoption of a National Fire Protection Association standard by an administrative agency defined the standard of care for work performed by a chimney sweep. The Court accepted the argument advanced on behalf of a subrogating insurance carrier for a condominium association that a chimney sweep...
