Articles & Cases
Coronavirus and Business Income Claims
Authored by Sloane and Walsh, LLP attorneys Tony Antonellis, Brendan Labbe and Emma A. Coppola. With the coronavirus spreading throughout the nation, and public and governmental precautions mounting, many businesses in the hospitality and other industries are...
Standards for Determining Whether an Insured Used Reasonable Care to Maintain Heat
Authored by: Emily A. Kaminska For those facing coverage issues arising from damage caused by cold weather and frozen pipe bursts, this article will provide an analysis of common reasonable care to maintain heat provisions, highlighting principal cases addressing the...
Homeowners, Health, and Auto Insurance – The Crossroads of Cannabis and Coverage
By Laura Meyer Gregory and Devon C. Bodey State legalization of marijuana is rising—33 states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana in some form. However, marijuana continues to be illegal under federal law. This trend is challenging for both insur-ers...
Matching: A Guide to the Principle & Case Law Update
Authored by: Brendan L. Labbe, Esq., Sloane and Walsh, LLP Blabbe@sloanewalsh.com857-321-7091 A string of recent court decisions across the nation have addressed the prominent issue of matching in first-party property insurance claims. In addition to...
Is It Bad Faith For An Insurer Not To Settle A Claim Against Its Insured, Because Its Policy Required The Insured To Consent To Settlement And He Would Not?
by Laura Meyer Gregory, Sloane and Walsh, LLP Massachusetts’ Highest Court will decide whether an insurer violated statutory requirements that an insurer settle claims in which liability has become reasonably clear, when the policy contains a provision requiring the...
Commerce Ins. Co. v. Szafarowicz: the New Road-Map for Insurance Coverage Litigation’s Impact on the Related Tort Case and Circumstances in which an Insured’s Settlement with the Plaintiff Is “Reasonable” Only If It Is Within The Insured’s Policy Limits.
by Laura Meyer Gregory and John P. Ryan, Sloane and Walsh, LLP On October 1, 2019, the Supreme Judicial Court issued a decision in Commerce Insurance Company v. Justina M. Szafarowicz, et al. addressing the following issues in the context of a motor vehicle insurer...
The Broad Evidence Rule: A Trend in Loss Valuation
Introduction: What is the Broad Evidence Rule? Actual cash value (“ACV”) is most commonly determined by calculating the replacement cost value, less depreciation. However, there are other methods of calculation that have been adopted by courts, such as fair...
Determining Recoverable Damages for Tortious Injury to Real Property
By John A. Donovan, III and Matthew D. Rush DIMINUTION IN MARKET VALUE: The General Rule In Massachusetts, the general rule for measuring damage to real property caused by tortious injury is diminution in market value or the cost of repair. See Hopkins v. American...
We Didn’t Start the Fire: Historical Analysis and Recent Developments Regarding the Innocent Co-Insured Doctrine
Introduction While matters of first-party insurance litigation typically concern the right of the named insured to payment, the existence of multiple insureds on a single policy can complicate a coverage analysis, particularly when one of the insureds commits an act...