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Full-Text Articles in Insurance Law

D&O Insurance: The Tension Between Cooperating With The Insurance Company And Protecting Privileged Information From Third Party Plaintiffs, Lindsay Fisher Jan 2008

D&O Insurance: The Tension Between Cooperating With The Insurance Company And Protecting Privileged Information From Third Party Plaintiffs, Lindsay Fisher

Seattle University Law Review

This comment argues that states should challenge the Real ID under the federalism principles enshrined in the Tenth Amendment, although the Act's driver licensing provisions infringe on both individual and state constitutional rights. A state challenge under the Tenth Amendment is more likely than modern individual rights jurisprudence to succeed in striking down Real ID. Arguing that the federal government impermissibly coerces state action under the Act will better protect both states and individual rights and succeed in having the Act overturned. Part II of this Comment provides a historical context for the enactment of Real ID and describes its …


Improving The Construction And Litigation Resolution Process: The 2005 Amendments To The Washington Condominium Act Are A Win-Win For Homeowners And Developers, Mark F. O'Donnell, David E. Chawes Jan 2006

Improving The Construction And Litigation Resolution Process: The 2005 Amendments To The Washington Condominium Act Are A Win-Win For Homeowners And Developers, Mark F. O'Donnell, David E. Chawes

Seattle University Law Review

On August 1, 2005, significant amendments to the Washington Condominium Act (WCA) became effective. These amendments were intended to substantially reduce water infiltration in multiunit residential buildings and to simplify the condominium construction dispute resolution process. The heart of the amendments is the implementation of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedures, as well as fee-shiftingprovisions which require the non-prevailing party to pay the attorney fees and costs of the prevailing party. A decade of lawsuits brought under the WCA by condominium owners associations against builders and developers, and in turn by builders against subcontractors, alleging defects in the ability of the …


Mahler V. Szucs: An Impediment To Interinsurer Arbitration And Affordable Personal Injury Protection Coverage, John R. Nicholson Jan 1999

Mahler V. Szucs: An Impediment To Interinsurer Arbitration And Affordable Personal Injury Protection Coverage, John R. Nicholson

Seattle University Law Review

This Note will demonstrate that the Mahler court's decision will lead to inefficient results, because it has essentially compelled PIP insurers to accept representation by attorneys who have a conflict of interests, precluding such insurers from selecting the best means of recovering their PIP interests. As a result, the price of insurance premiums inevitably will escalate, while providing plaintiffs' attorneys with a windfall of increased fees for performing no additional work for their clients. The following discussion will show not only that the Mahler court holding is inefficient as a matter of public policy, but also that its analysis ignores …


Employer Liability Under The Third Party Provision Of The Washington Industrial Insurance Act: The Dual Capacity And Dual Persona Doctrines In Evans V. Thompson, Melissa M. Jackson Jan 1995

Employer Liability Under The Third Party Provision Of The Washington Industrial Insurance Act: The Dual Capacity And Dual Persona Doctrines In Evans V. Thompson, Melissa M. Jackson

Seattle University Law Review

Most workers' compensation schemes are designed to provide a swift and sure source of benefits to injured workers by placing on employers the risks and burdens of modern industry. In keeping with this policy, Washington's Industrial Insurance Act2 (IIA) requires injured workers to relinquish the right to sue at common law for damages sustained on the job, and it requires employers to accept liability for a measure of damages set out by the statute. However, if a worker's injuries are caused by the negligence of a third person who is not in the worker's same employ, the IIA's third-party provision …


The Need For Revisiting The Imposition Of Bad Faith Liability: Industrial Indemnity Co. V. Kallevig, J. Benson Porter, Jr. Jan 1991

The Need For Revisiting The Imposition Of Bad Faith Liability: Industrial Indemnity Co. V. Kallevig, J. Benson Porter, Jr.

Seattle University Law Review

This Note posits two recommendations. First, in order to harmonize the bad faith standards applied in Kallevig and Gingrich, the Kallevig reasonable justification standard should be applied in situations involving questions similar to those confronted by the Gingrich court. Second, this Note contends that the Kallevig court's analysis imposing liability under the CPA was defective because it failed to take proper account of the frequency requirement within the unfair trade practices regulations. By ignoring the frequency provision, the Kallevig decision allows inconsistent treatment of similar factual situations depending on whether the decision is being made by an agency or …


Tank V. State Farm: Conducting A Reservation Of Rights Defense In Washington, Matthew L. Sweeney Jan 1987

Tank V. State Farm: Conducting A Reservation Of Rights Defense In Washington, Matthew L. Sweeney

Seattle University Law Review

The key to properly conducting a reservation of rights defense is understanding the interrelationship between insurer, policyholder, and defense counsel. In <em>Tank v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.</em>, the Washington Supreme Court addressed the rights and duties of the insurer and defense counsel conducting a reservation of rights defense.


Insurance Anti-Rebate Statutes And Dade County Consumer Advocates V. Department Of Insurance: Can A 19th Century Idea Protect Modern Consumers?, John S. Conniff Jan 1986

Insurance Anti-Rebate Statutes And Dade County Consumer Advocates V. Department Of Insurance: Can A 19th Century Idea Protect Modern Consumers?, John S. Conniff

Seattle University Law Review

In 1984, a Florida court of appeals held that the Florida statutes prohibiting insurance agents from rebating part of their commissions to customers violated the due process clause of the Florida Constitution. The court concluded that no rational relationship exists between the anti-rebate statutes and the legitimate state purpose of protecting the public. The Florida decision is noteworthy because every state prohibits insurance agents and brokers from rebating to their customers a part of the commission earned from the sale of an insurance policy. In addition, every state prohibits unfair discrimination in pricing insurance policies and prohibits agreements between agents …


Manifestation: The Least Defensible Insurance Coverage Theory For Asbestos-Related Disease Suits, Pamela J. Layton Jan 1983

Manifestation: The Least Defensible Insurance Coverage Theory For Asbestos-Related Disease Suits, Pamela J. Layton

Seattle University Law Review

This Note first explains the nature of asbestos diseases, the standard insurance policy language, and the theories of insurance coverage. It then demonstrates the misapplications of medical evidence and contract interpretation principles in Eagle-Picher Industries Inc. v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, and concludes with a discussion of the wider implications of the decision and the better theory suggested by Judge Wald. Because the facts and issues involved in Insurance Company of North America v. Forty-Eight Insulations, Keene Corp. v. Insurance Company of North America, and Eagle-Picher are essentially the same, the conclusions drawn from Eagle-Picher apply equally …


Mutual Of Enumclaw Insurance Company V. Wiscomb: Excluding The Family Exclusion Clause, Janice L. Campton Jan 1983

Mutual Of Enumclaw Insurance Company V. Wiscomb: Excluding The Family Exclusion Clause, Janice L. Campton

Seattle University Law Review

This note examines Mutual of Enumclaw Insurance Company v. Wiscomb. The note supports the court’s decision to prohibit unbargained for family exclusion clauses, because it furthered the policies exemplified in the Financial Responsibility Law and the Underinsured Motorist Statute and acted consistently with its decision abrogating intrafamily tort immunity. However, the note argues that by suggesting it would uphold truly bargained for family exclusion clauses denying coverage to named insureds, the court ignored its own pronouncement declaring such clauses against this state’s policy of assuring compensation for the protection of innocent victims of negligent motorists.


Sex Stereotyping And Statistics—Equality In An Insurance Context, Cheryl Bleakney Jan 1983

Sex Stereotyping And Statistics—Equality In An Insurance Context, Cheryl Bleakney

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment first outlines a few basic insurance concepts and distinguishes employer-provided plans from individually purchased policies. It then examines discrimination criteria and City of Los Angeles, Department of Water and Power v. Manhart's application of Title VII and applies those principles to Supreme Court cases. The Comment also suggests that FIPA be revised to extend its gender-neutral requirements only to employer provided group plans.