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The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, applying Illinois law, has held that a professional liability insurer had no duty to defend or indemnify an employee of its insured realty management company where the underlying allegations were based on the employee’s alleged intentional conduct in circumventing an estate plan.  Those Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, Severally Subscribing to Policy No. MPL-0000343-01 v. Karris, 2021 WL 493038 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 10, 2021).
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Continue Reading No Coverage for Lawsuit Alleging Intentional Conduct to Circumvent Estate Plan

Applying Illinois law, a federal district court has held that an insurer did not have a duty to defend or indemnify for a lawsuit that was filed and dismissed prior to the policy period and later refiled during the policy period.  Navigators Specialty Ins. Co. v. B.D. McClure & Assocs., Ltd., 2020 WL 5909067 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 6, 2020).
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Continue Reading Insurer Had No Duty to Defend or Indemnify for Lawsuit Refiled During the Policy Period

An Illinois appellate court has held that an underlying action involving a fee dispute was not a claim involving professional services and was not covered under a professional liability policy.  RLI Ins. Co. v. Acclaim Res. Partners, LLC, 2020 WL 5548318 (Ill. App. Ct. Sept. 16, 2020).  The court further held that the underlying action’s conclusory allegations of “professional negligence” did not trigger coverage because the allegations were unsupported by the alleged facts.
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Continue Reading Illinois Court Holds Fee Dispute Does Not Involve Professional Services

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, applying Illinois law, has concluded that a question of fact exists regarding when a “claim” was “first made” where the recipient of a “claim” sent via email allegedly did not become aware of the claim until days after it was received in the recipient’s inbox, after the end of the policy period.  Lloyd’s Syndicate 3624 (Hiscox) v. Clow, 2020 WL 4194213 (N.D. Ill. July 21, 2020).
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Continue Reading Question of Fact When “Claim” “First Made” Where Insured Allegedly Did Not Become Aware of Claim Until After Policy Period

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, applying Illinois law, has held that a written demand for monetary relief, made as part of an ongoing civil proceeding, cannot constitute a second Claim distinct from the Claim already initiated by the civil proceeding itself under a claims-made policy.  Market Street Bancshares, Inc. v. Fed. Ins. Co., 2020 WL 3396303 (7th Cir. June 19, 2020).  The court based its holding on both the policy’s text and the principles underlying claims-made coverage.
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Continue Reading “Written Demand” Made Within a “Civil Proceeding” is Not a New Claim

The Illinois Court of Appeals, applying Illinois law, affirmed a trial court’s ruling that an insurer did not act in bad faith by denying coverage where there was a “bona fide” coverage dispute concerning an underlying lawsuit against the insured.  Nine Grp. II, LLC v. Liberty Int’l Underwriters, Inc., 2020 Ill. App. WL 190320 (Ill. Ct. App. Jun. 18, 2020).  The court held that the trial court had correctly refused to award certain costs to the insured under an Illinois statute applicable where an insurers’ conduct is “vexatious and unreasonable.”
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Continue Reading Illinois Court of Appeals Rules Insurer Did Not Act in Bad Faith in Denying Coverage Where Claim Was Made Before Policy Period

Applying Illinois law, a federal district court has held that an insurer had no duty to defend or indemnify an insured for a lawsuit that derived in part from facts or circumstances that were the subject of an EEOC charge filed during a prior policy period.  U.S. Specialty Ins. Co. v. Village of Melrose Park, 2020 WL 1923076 (N.D. Ill. April 21, 2020).
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Continue Reading No Duty to Defend or Indemnify Lawsuit Overlapping With Prior EEOC Charge

An Illinois federal district court has ruled that a technology company’s failure to provide timely notice of a computer outage and related email demand barred coverage for a later-filed lawsuit.  Hartford Fire Ins. Co. v. iNetworks Servs., LLC, 2020 WL 1491139 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 27, 2020).
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Continue Reading Untimely Notice of Server Outage and Related Client Communications Bars Coverage for Claim Filed against Technology Service Provider

Applying Illinois law, the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois has held that an insurer had no duty to cover defense costs for affirmative claims that involved, but were not brought by, its insured.  Marquis Energy LLC v. Federal Ins. Co., 2020 WL 853503 (C.D. Ill. Feb. 20, 2020).
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Continue Reading Insurer Has No Duty to Defend Insured in “Defensive” Arbitration Proceeding

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, applying Illinois law, has held that there is no coverage under a D&O policy where the insured did not timely report a declaratory judgment lawsuit and instead sought coverage only after an amended complaint was filed in the successive policy period.  Hanover Ins. Co. v. R.W. Dunteman Co., 2020 WL 1275002 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 17, 2020).  The court held that the complaints were part of a single “claim” and not separate “claims” even though the amended complaint added insured defendants and theories of liability.
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Continue Reading Declaratory Judgment Complaint Constitutes a Reportable Claim for a Wrongful Act; Subsequent Amended Complaint Adding Insured Defendants Not a Separate Claim