The Second Circuit has held that property damage occurring after the term of an excess liability policy may be included in the calculation of whether damages from a single occurrence reach the policy’s attachment point. In Olin Corp. v. American Home Assurance Co., 11-4055-cv (2d Cir. Dec. 19, 2012), an insured manufacturer of industrial chemicals filed suit against its excess liability insurers, claiming they owed a duty to indemnify it for its costs of remediating ... Keep Reading »
Environmental
The Limits of the Real: Narrow Readings of Policy Terms put Losses in a Virtual Realm
Ludwig Wittgenstein famously declared that “[t]he world is everything that is the case.” In three recent cases involving liability policies, courts remind us that injury can occur beyond the limits of the world that consists of “property”—or even of “substance.” 1. PPI Technology Services, L.P., was hired to “assist in well-planning” on three oil leases in Boudreaux, Louisiana. Its responsibilities included overseeing the drilling of wells. When PPI dug an empty ... Keep Reading »