Like many businesses, colleges and universities across the country have had to dramatically alter their operations in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Most students completed the spring 2020 semester through online instruction after campuses closed in response to rising infection rates and government shutdown orders. According to the Chronicle of…
Rep and Warranty Insurance (RWI) generally provides coverage for financial losses resulting from breaches of representations and warranties made by target companies or sellers in company purchase agreements. Like all insurance policies, RWI policies have exclusions. However, those exclusions, like RWI insurance, are highly specialized. They generally fall into two…
Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit awarded Pillsbury client Northrop Grumman a significant appellate victory, reversing an adverse decision from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on a question of first impression within the circuit. The court’s decision in AXIS Reinsurance…
One word that aptly describes the devastation that is 2020 is “relentless.” The COVID-19 pandemic has caused both personal and economic suffering throughout the world for over six months. Against the backdrop of the already devastating effects of COVID-19, several regions in the United States have recently experienced powerful storms…
His daughter missing and a secret government program uncovered … Ben Affleck’s detective thriller Hypnotic was next in line to be on the actor’s list of blockbuster films. That is, until the COVID-19 pandemic halted the film while it was still in pre-production. To insure against such business interruption risks…
We have been carefully monitoring the litigation filed across the country, where businesses are seeking coverage for the business interruption losses arising from the government closure orders issued to address COVID-19. Some of the Closure Orders expressly refer to property damage, but it is important to actually plead facts that…
Businesses buy property insurance to protect their bottom line in the event that something bad results in lower sales or increased costs. Insurance companies seek to improve their bottom line by increasing sales and reducing their largest cost item, claim payments. In their effort to improve sales, we see insurance…
With hundreds of cases now pending nationwide involving insurance coverage claims for business interruptions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, a federal panel has been considering the prospect of consolidating the litigation into one multidistrict litigation (MDL) to promote their efficient resolution. On August 12, 2020, the panel issued a decision…
As the COVID-19 public health crisis continues to surge globally, insurers have closed ranks behind the position that commercial property policies are “not designed” to cover pandemic-related losses, including business interruption. But the various justifications they advance for this assertion often collapse under scrutiny of the relevant policy language. Insurers…
As businesses around the world continue to assess when and how to reopen their offices, the marketplace has become saturated with innovative “back to office” products and services. Whether a business chooses to invest in the latest body temperature scanner (such as Kogniz, a thermal security platform that uses AI…