Practice: Insurance & Casualty Litigation

• Insurance & Casualty Litigation

  Claims made and reported provisions enforceable against injured third parties

  • October 1, 2014
  • By Allen & Gooch
  

  Many insurance policies include a provision known as a “claims made and reported” clause which indicates that a claim is only covered if the claim is reported to the insurer during the policy’s stated time limit. Because Louisiana is a Direct Action State, it was believed that this provision would not be enforced against an […]

• Insurance & Casualty Litigation

  No coverage for Accident Occurring During Crime

  • June 25, 2014
  • By Allen & Gooch
  

  Exclusion Covers Personal Injury Coverage for Accidents That Occur in Commission of a Crime In the recent decision of Trumps v. USAgencies Cas. Ins. Co., No. 14-25 2014 WL 1815376 (La. App. 3rd Cir. 5/7/214), the Third Circuit Court of Appeal for the State of Louisiana upheld an exclusion in automobile insurance policy which excluded […]

• Insurance & Casualty Litigation

  Commercial General Liability Total Pollution Exclusion Endorsement

  • April 15, 2014
  • By Allen & Gooch
  

  Commercial General Liability Total Pollution Exclusion Endorsement Will Not Apply to All Contact with Pollutants In its 2000 decision of Doerr v. Mobil Oil Corp., 774 So.2d 119 (La. 2000), the Louisiana Supreme Court reshaped the application of the Commercial General Liability Total Pollution Exclusion Endorsement, overruling its previous position expressed in Ducote v. Koch […]

• Insurance & Casualty Litigation

  ABIZ: I Hereby Waive & Release Any and All Liability…Or Do I?

  • April 3, 2014
  • By Troy Broussard

  This article originally appeared in ABIZ Acadiana Business on February 21, 2014. Liability waivers are everywhere. We find them in recreational sports application forms (youth and adult), on signs and menus in restaurants that serve raw oysters, in church and school field-trip permission forms, on parking garage tickets, in alarm service monitoring contracts, etc. But […]

• Insurance & Casualty Litigation

  Anti-indemnity Provisions of Motor Carrier Transportation Agreements

  • January 22, 2014
  • By Allen & Gooch
  

  Louisiana law invalidates certain provisions in motor carrier transportation agreements. With certain limitations, Louisiana Revised Statute (“La. R.S.”) 9:2780.1 invalidates two potential provisions of motor carrier transportation agreements entered into after January 1, 2011.  First, La. R.S. 9:2780.1 invalidates any provision within a motor carrier transportation contract which seeks to require one party to defend […]

• Insurance & Casualty Litigation

  Reservation of Rights and Retaining Independent Counsel in Texas

  • November 6, 2013
  • By Allen & Gooch

  Applying Texas law, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued an opinion concerning an insured’s right to independent counsel when an insurer issues a reservation of rights letter.  In Downhole Navigator, L.L.C. v. Nautilus Ins. Co., 686 F.3d 325 (5th Cir. 2012), the Court held that an insured is only entitled to independent […]

• Insurance & Casualty Litigation

  6 Things to Know About UM Coverage in Louisiana

  • October 31, 2013
  • By Brent Carriere
  

  Punitive damages Excluding punitive damages from UM coverage does not conflict with the purpose of the UM statute and should be given full effect.  Fortier v. Hamblin, 610 So.2d 897 (La. App. 1st Cir. 1992). Judicial interest Once a lawsuit is filed, the claim necessarily increases to take into account accrued interest.  Therefore, the amount […]

• Insurance & Casualty Litigation

  Five Considerations When Validating UM Rejection Form

  • September 18, 2013
  • By Brent Carriere

  Whether dealing with whose signature is needed or the result of changing a policy number, here are five considerations for validating a UM rejection form.

• Insurance & Casualty Litigation

  10 Items to Preserve After an Accident in a Company Vehicle

  • September 13, 2013
  • By Lori Barker
  

  Do you know what to do if an employee gets into an accident in a company vehicle? When your employee is involved in an accident in a company vehicle that may be the subject of a future lawsuit, keeping basic documents will help you avoid an adverse claim for spoliation and assist with your defense. […]

• Insurance & Casualty Litigation

  Six Requirements for a Valid UM Rejection Form

  • September 11, 2013
  • By Brent Carriere

  Although here is s prohibition against altering or modifying UM rejection forms, identical forms can be valid and enforceable waivers of UM coverage.