business interruption coverage – Duane Morris Insurance Law

February 27, 2023November 29, 2023 by Max H. Stern

California Court of Appeal Disposes of COVID-19 Coverage Dispute After Discovery Reveals Cause of Business Income Losses

By Max H. Stern and Holden Benon

Late last week, the California Court of Appeal issued another COVID-19 business interruption decision reminding us that creative arguments do not win the day for policyholders in California. The true facts are decisive.

In Best Rest Motel, Inc. v. Sequoia Ins. Co., No. D079927, 2023 WL 2198660 (Cal. Ct. App. Feb. 24, 2023), the court upheld a trial court’s ruling on summary judgment, reasoning the policyholder could not show that its loss of business income was caused by “direct physical loss of or damage to property,” within the meaning of its commercial multi-peril insurance policy.

The policyholder, San Diego-based Best Rest Motel, Inc. argued that the presence of virus-infected droplets caused physical loss or damage rendering its property incapable of safely providing lodging to guests. Readers familiar with these issues may recognize this as an attempt to plead facts that fall within the “hypothetical scenario” posited in dicta by the court in Inns-by-the-Sea.

Continue reading “California Court of Appeal Disposes of COVID-19 Coverage Dispute After Discovery Reveals Cause of Business Income Losses”

August 14, 2020August 14, 2020 by Duane Morris

Panel Rejects Consolidation Of All Federal Business Interruption Cases

By Damon Vocke

On July 31, the seven-member Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation (JPML) heard oral argument of extraordinary length on the potential consolidation of all federal cases involving business interruption coverage relating to COVID-19 and/or COVID-19 shutdown orders, totaling approximately 449 such federal cases, roughly 200 of which are putative class actions. Continue reading “Panel Rejects Consolidation Of All Federal Business Interruption Cases”

July 31, 2020August 14, 2020 by Duane Morris

Lengthy Oral Argument on Potential Consolidation of Business Interruption Coverage Cases Related to COVID-19

By Damon Vocke

On July 30, the Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation (the Panel) heard oral argument of extraordinary length on the potential consolidation of all the federal cases involving business interruption coverage relating to COVID-19 and/or the COVID-19 shut-down orders. There are some 449 such federal cases, approximately 200 of which are putative class actions.

Normally, the arguments for consolidation are short. This one was not. This was likely due to the importance of the pandemic-related litigation, as well as the multiplicity of positions.

Several policyholder plaintiffs argued for national consolidation. Insurer-specific consolidation was the most common fall-back position among the policyholder plaintiffs. Several policyholder plaintiffs argued against any consolidation – most notably, David Boies. Counsel for some of the insurer defendants argued on behalf of the industry against any consolidation. Continue reading “Lengthy Oral Argument on Potential Consolidation of Business Interruption Coverage Cases Related to COVID-19”

May 18, 2020May 18, 2020 by Duane Morris

Duane Morris Helps Insurance Industry to a Major Win on COVID Losses for Business Interruption Before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court

By Damon N. Vocke

In the bellwether case of Joseph Tambellini, Inc. v. Erie Insurance Exchange, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court was petitioned under its King’s Bench powers to assume plenary jurisdiction of an insurance coverage dispute that had been filed in the Court of Common Pleas, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The high court was asked to decide critical legal issues that would have impacted thousands of other insurance claims that might arise in the future from the COVID-19 pandemic. Duane Morris was retained by insurer trade associations, including APCIA, NAMIC, PAMIC, and the Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania (the “Insurance Industry Amici”), to oppose this extraordinary petition. Continue reading “Duane Morris Helps Insurance Industry to a Major Win on COVID Losses for Business Interruption Before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court”

May 13, 2020 by Duane Morris

An Update on Congressional Efforts to Compel Coronavirus Business Interruption Insurance

By Dominica C. Anderson, Philip R. Matthews and Daniel B. Heidtke

We previously wrote about the growing number of lawsuits by insureds seeking business interruption insurance coverage for business losses in response to the novel coronavirus (here and here), and the constraints that state and federal governments should face were they to compel such coverage. We also previously detailed nationwide efforts aimed at enacting legislation compelling business interruption and contingent business interruption insurance for COVID-19 losses.

As of the date of this update, eight states have proposed a number of bills relating to business interruption insurance. Continue reading “An Update on Congressional Efforts to Compel Coronavirus Business Interruption Insurance”