Source One Financial Corporation sued Commerce Insurance Company and its adjuster in a dispute arising out of the value of a totaled vehicle.  Source One sought to amend the complaint by adding Commerce's vehicle appraiser and her company as defendants, asserting that they exceeded their authority as appraisers and worked with Commerce to artificially suppress the value of the totaled vehicle. Commerce opposed the motion on the ground that the claim against the appraiser should be addressed through an administrative remedy before the Automobile Damage Appraiser Licensing Board. In ..read more

  I am pleased to say that reason has prevailed in the First Circuit.   I am generally pretty sanguine about insurance coverage decisions (except on my own cases, of course). I might disagree with the outcomes, but . . . the vagaries of the court system, yada yada yada. But every once in a great while I come across a decision that I have to read several times before I believe that my eyes aren't skipping over a "not" that would allow the decision to make sense.  The decisions of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Berkley Nat'l Ins. Co. v ..read more

If you’ve worked with me over the past year then you’ve likely had an opportunity to meet my assistant, Nikki Payne.  Nikki is the first point of contact a new client has with my office.  She walks you through my process, helps you with paperwork, and answers your initial questions.  As the case progresses she helps keep the case on track by gathering and often conducting the first review of documents, coordinating schedules, and tracking down recalcitrant opposing attorneys for dates and discovery.    Nikki is a former licensed property/casualty insurance agent. Sh ..read more

In some ways, this is an eye-crossingly boring decision, even for an insurance coverage geek like myself.  It relies on definitions found in negotiable instruments law.  Need I say more?  But, coverage issues aside, the real takeaway from this post is: Lawyers, beware! These scams are growing in sophistication and constant vigilance is required.     Law firm taken in by scam and insurer denies coverage Law firm Brooks & DeRensis (B&D) was retained by someone calling himself Brian Rodriguez to secure money owed to him by his employer under the terms of a se ..read more

  Following an arson fire in 2021 that destroyed a building owned by BAS Holding Corporation on the Brockton Fairgrounds, Philadelphia Insurance Company undertook an investigation that focused on whether the building was vacant, which would limit coverage.   As part of its investigation Philadelphia issued multiple document requests to BAS.  BAS cooperated fully and responded with over 700 documents. On June 16, 2021, Philadelphia sought to take an Examination Under Oath, or EUO, of BAS.  Rather than naming a particular witness, it asked BAS to designate someone who co ..read more

  Although in this blog I generally stick to Massachusetts topics, this article from JDSupra on the new Florida tort reform measures should be of interest to anyone who practices in the insurance bad faith field.   Here's one of my posts from a few years ago that touches on insurance litigation in Florida.   ..read more

  So many people are talking about ChatGPT -- the artificial intelligence content creator -- that awareness of it has trickled down even to us attorneys, well-known to be late adopters of all technology.  I thought I'd give it a try.  I signed up for ChatGPT (which took several attempts, none of which were my fault, and included one message that I would have to wait because traffic was heavy -- not a great sign for the cuttingest-edge tech), and I input this question: In Massachusetts what should you do if your insurance carrier says that an exclusion applies to a claim against ..read more

  Ken's Foods, Inc. operates a manufacturing facility in Georgia.  In 2018 its wastewater treatment system malfunctioned and wastewater flowed into a Georgia tributary.  Ken's Foods cleaned up and contained the pollution, incurring about $1 million in costs. Ken's Foods also implemented a temporary wastewater treatment system that allowed it to continue its operations without interruption.  It spent over $2 million on these measures, including governmental fines, which allowed it to avoid a suspension of operations that otherwise would have cost it over $10 million per mont ..read more

Welcome to my first video on insurance issues. In this one I discuss basic issues in real property insurance claims.   ..read more

On September 28, 2022 I gave a webinar on the topic Liability Insurance and Good Faith Claims Handling: What Every Massachusetts Attorney Should Know.  This was a joint program of two of my favorite institutions, the Insurance Library (currently holding a Silent Auction) and the Social Law Library.  You can access the video here.   ..read more