Allocation

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On October 14th, Vice Chancellor Leo E. Strine, Jr. of the Delaware Court of Chancery blew some much needed fresh air into New York allocation jurisprudence. The Viking Pump consolidated cases, C.A. 1465-VCS, have already yielded very interesting and thoughtful rulings on the transfer of insurance in connection with complicated corporate transactions. Viking Pump, Inc. v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and Warren Pumps LLC, 2007 WL 2752912 (Del. Ch. Apr. 2, 2007 (unpublished opinion).

The latest decision, the first nearly fifty pages of which is also devoted to corporate transaction issues, then spends the next 40 pages [yes, it is 88 pages long] delving into the arcana of allocation law.

Continue Reading Delaware Chancery Court Opens the Door to “All Sums” Allocation in New York

On August 13, 2009, the City of Sterling Heights, Michigan received a check from United National Insurance Company for over $15.4 million, satisfying a judgment awarded by the federal district court for the Eastern District of Michigan and upheld on appeal by the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.  Apart from this payment, United National and Sterling Heights will continue to litigate the amount of additional damages that the Sixth Circuit determined to be due to the City.
Continue Reading Insurance Company Pays Up, Resolving Unallocated Settlement and Defense Costs

W9/PHC Real Estate LP and Grubb & Ellis Management Services, Inc. v. Farm Family Casualty Insurance Co., N.J. App. Div. May 20, 2009

In a declaratory judgment action presented to the New Jersey Appellate Division, defendant Farm Family Casualty Insurance Company (Farm Family) appealed from an order directing it to reimburse W9/PHC Real Estate LP and Grubb & Ellis Management Services, Inc. for half of the defense costs and indemnification of a slip-and-fall suit for damages. Crabtree Landscaping and Turf Management, LLC (Crabtree), a company hired by plaintiffs to remove snow from their property, was also a defendant in that action. W9/PHC sought coverage as additional insureds under Crabtrees’s liability insurance policy with Farm Family.

In its opinion, the appellate division succinctly described the issue before it as follows:

This appeal presents the issue of the obligation to pay for a liability insurance claim and counsel fees where two insurers have conflicting “other insurance” clauses, one providing for “pro rata” payment, and the other for payment only when the other insurer’s limit is exhausted.

Continue Reading A Flush Beats a Straight and Excess Other Insurance Beats Pro Rata Other Insurance