Insurance Law Commons^™

Uninsured Motorist Insurance Now Covers Punitive Award - Hutchinson V. J.C. Penny Casualty Insurance Company, Dale Katzenmeyer

Akron Law Review

A split of authority exists among the few states which have decided the issue In jurisdictions permitting recovery of punitive damages, uninsured motorist coverage is intended to place the insurer in the shoes of the uninsured tortfeasor. Since the insurer stands in the shoes of the tortfeasor, and since punitive damages could be covered if the tortfeasor had his own insurance, it is illogical to deny the victim punitive damages simply because the tortfeasor is uninsured. Other jurisdictions believe that punitive damages should not be awarded since that award would not operate to punish the tortfeasor and would therefore violate …

Judicial Deregulation Of Consumer Markets, Max N. Helveston

Cardozo Law Review

The dangers posed by insufficiently regulated consumer markets are both real and monumental. While the rights of consumers expanded drastically in the mid- to late twentieth century, these protections have weakened in the new millennium. One of the forces driving this change has been the judiciary, where an anti-consumer jurisprudence has taken root. This is surprising, given the courts' history of defending individuals' commercial rights and combating unfair market practices.

Despite the significant ramifications that the removal of consumer protections has for every individual, the evolution of anti-consumerism in the courts has received scarce attention from the academy. This Article …

Should The Law Preserve Party Control? Litigation Investment, Insurance Law, And Double Standards, Anthony J. Sebok

Articles

Litigation investment, sometimes known as litigation finance, is increasingly accepted around the world. Once prohibited as champerty, litigation investment is now embraced in England, Canada, and Australia, as well as in many civil law nations. In the United States, the development of a robust market for investment in litigation has been met by various objections. One objection is that litigation investment interferes with the autonomy of lawyers. A second objection is that it promotes frivolous litigation.

This Article takes up a popular argument against litigation investment: the legal system should not encourage parties to sell their control over litigation that …

Examining The Impact Of Florida's Non-Economic Damage Cap On Elderly Populations, Andrew W. Dodds

CMC Senior Theses

In this paper, I use data from the Florida Closed Claims Database to investigate how Florida’s 2003 non-economic damage cap legislation impacted elderly malpractice claimants. More specifically, I measure whether or not non-economic damage caps adversely impact claimants in counties with high elderly densities. To measure the effect of Florida’s non-economic damage caps, I look at multiple metrics that measure both elderly claimants’ monetary gains and their access to the justice system after the reform is passed. I find mildly conclusive evidence that counties with higher elderly density, and assumedly more elderly claimants, are more likely to settle cases before …

The Role Of The Profit Imperative In Risk Management, Christopher French

Faculty Scholarship

Risks in the world abound. Every day there is a chance that each of us could be in a car accident. Or, one of us could be the victim of a tornado, flood or earthquake. Every day someone becomes deathly ill from an insidious disease. Our properties are in constant peril—one’s house could catch fire at any time or a tree could fall on it during a storm. Any one of these events could have devastating financial consequences, and they are just a few of the many risks that impact our daily lives. One of the principal ways we manage …

Should Neither Wind Nor Rain Nor Hurricane Keep Victims From Recovery? Examining The Tort And Insurance Systems’ Ability To Compensate Hurricane Victims, Kathleen A. Zink

Fordham Law Review

Large-scale natural disasters, such as hurricanes, wreak tremendous havoc, causing billions of dollars in damages.  Those who suffer serious damage may turn to their insurance providers or the tort system for compensation.  But, both the tort and insurance systems present serious limitations to a hurricane victim’s recovery.  This Note analyzes the goals and criticisms of these two systems to determine which compensates hurricane victims best.  In light of its analysis, this Note ultimately concludes that neither system satisfactorily compensates victims.  Yet, tort could play some role in hurricane-related damage.  Tort law could effectively deter negligent behavior by imposing liability on …

Carriage Of Hazardous Cargoes By Sea - The Hns Convention, Peter Wetterstein

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

What Do We Talk About When We Talk About Control, Anthony J. Sebok

Articles

Despite the recent rejection by the ABA of attempts to weaken the limitations on the sharing of fees with non-lawyers, pressure to allow laypersons to invest in lawsuits remains. This article looks at one argument against lay investment in litigation, which is that laypersons should not be able to control how litigation is conducted.

Assessing The Insurance Role Of Tort Liability After Calabresi, W. Kip Viscusi, Joni Hersch

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Calabresi’s theory of tort liability (1961) as a risk distribution mechanism established insurance as an objective of tort liability. Calabresi’s risk-spreading concept of tort has provided the impetus for much of the subsequent development of tort liability doctrine, including risk-utility analysis and strict liability. Calabresi’s analysis remains a powerful basis for modern tort liability. However, high transactions costs, correlated risks, catastrophic losses, mass toxic torts, shifts in liability rules over time, noneconomic damages, and punitive damages affect the functioning of tort liability as an insurance mechanism. Despite some limitations of tort liability as insurance, tort compensation serves both a compensatory …

Litigation Investment And Legal Ethics: What Are The Real Issues?, Anthony J. Sebok

Articles

One of the foundational principles of legal ethics is that the lawyer owes an obligation of undivided loyalty to the client, and no other interests or relationships can be permitted to interfere with the lawyer's exercise of independent professional judgment on behalf of the client. The strongest objections to litigation investment by third parties is that it may compromise a lawyer's independence. This article examines this objection in the context of a recent report from the Ethics Committee of the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section of the New York State Bar Association and argues that it misses the real legal …

"Why Won't My Homeowners Insurance Cover My Loss?": Reassessing Property Insurance Concurrent Causation Coverage Disputes, Peter N. Swisher

Law Faculty Publications

Property insurance coverage disputes can be extremely complex cases when there are multiple concurrent causes in a causal chain of events and when some of these concurrent causes are covered under the policy language but other concurrent causes are excluded from coverage. To complicate matters enormously, there are no fewer than three different judicial approaches attempting to resolve this concurrent causation interpretive conundrum. Over the past two decades, a number of property insurance companies have attempted to address this interpretive problem contractually by inserting so-called anti-concurrent causation clauses into their property insurance policy language. But these anti-concurrent causation clauses have …

Strict Products Liability At 50: Four Histories, Kyle Graham

Marquette Law Review

This Article offers four different perspectives on the strict products- liability “revolution” of a half-century ago. One of these narratives relates the predominant assessment of how this movement coalesced and spread across the states. The three alternative histories introduced by this Article view the shift toward strict products liability through populist, practical, and contingent lenses, respectively. The first of these narratives considers the contributions that plaintiffs and their counsel made toward this change in the law. The second focuses upon how a formerly common, but now moribund, type of products-liability lawsuit framed the argument for strict liability as a superior …

Duty In The Litigation-Investment Agreement: The Choice Between Tort And Contract Norms When The Deal Breaks Down, Anthony J. Sebok, W. Bradley Wendel

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Litigation investment, which is also known as “litigation finance” or “third party litigation finance,” has grown in importance in many common law and civilian legal systems and has come to the United States as well. While many questions remain about both legality and social desirability of litigation finance, this paper starts with the assumption that the practice will become widespread in the US and explores the obligations of the parties to the litigation finance contract.

The first part of the article uses an example to illustrate the risks imposed by one of the other party on the other which should …

Workers' Compensation: Alternatives Are Limited, Irvin Stander

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Extending The Liability Of Insurers For Bad Faith Acts: Royal Globe Insurance Company V. Superior Court, Michael Tancredi

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Punitive Damages And The Drunken Driver, William C. Cooper

Pepperdine Law Review

A discussion of the history and theory of punitive damages which results in advocating their application in a drunk driving context after giving due consideration to the pros and cons of such a sanction. An analysis of case law will reveal the underlying rationale that has motivated certain jurisdictions in applying this severe penal approach in an attempt to deter and curtail the senseless destruction on our nation's highways as well as exploring the impetus behind those other jurisdictions that do not utilize the remedy of punitive damages. The culminating focus is on California's position in this regard. Finally, there …

Liability Cure-All For Insidious Disease Claims, Susan Frankewich

Pepperdine Law Review

Recent decisions handed down in various circuits have created virtual chaos in predicting the liability and damage amounts of insidious disease claims. At least three substantially divergent theories have been adopted to impute liability to the manufacturers of the disease catalysts. Additionally, a new trust fund concept has been used on a limited basis to reconcile differences in court decisions. The trust fund approach is relatively flexible and simple to apply in apportioning damages for insidious disease claims. The author examines and analyzes these three liability theories. In conclusion, the adoption of the trust fund concept is recommended.

The Overruling Of Royal Globe: A "Royal Bonanza" For Insurance Companies, But What Happens Now?, Michael J. Gainer

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

It Hertz To Be Number One: The Collision Damage Waiver Is Being Attacked On Multiple Fronts , Michael G. Dawson

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Do Damages Caps Reduce Medical Malpractice Insurance Premiums?: A Systematic Review Of Estimates And The Methods Used To Produce Them, Kathryn Zeiler, Lorian E. Hardcastle

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Despite common claims made in policy debates, the theoretical connection between tort reform and medical malpractice insurance premiums is ambiguous. Simple models suggest reforms such as statutory damages caps reduce premiums. More elaborate models that account for changes in physician behavior suggest caps might increase or have no impact on premiums. A number of empirical studies have been conducted to estimate the impacts of caps on premiums, and several qualitative literature reviews have attempted to draw general conclusions from the literature. No review, however, has offered a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the full set of empirical studies. This chapter …

Reimbursing Hazardous Waste Cleanup Costs Under Cercla: A Move Toward Re-Establishing A Faithful Application Of State Insurance Law, Gary M. Miller

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Exposure, Manifestation Of Loss, Injury-In-Fact, Continuous Trigger: The Insurance Coverage Quagmire , Nicolas R. Andrea

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Selling Structured Settlements: The Uncertain Effect Of Anti-Assignment Clauses , Gregory Scott Crespi

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mass Disaster Mediation: Innovative, Adr, Or A Lion's Den?, Elizabeth Baker Murrill

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

Mass torts and other mass claims are becoming an ever more popular forum for the use of alternative dispute resolution to resolve parties' claims in the wake of events that produce thousands of conflicts overnight. Mediation, in particular, has been used in several high-profile mass disaster events in an effort to resolve individual claims efficiently and quickly. This paper evaluates special risks posed in this kind of mediation that can go to the heart and the integrity of the mediation process. The thesis of this paper is that the potential imbalance in the parties' experience, education, and individual situation can …

An Unnecessary Consternation: An Analysis Of The Future Of Eu Arbitration In The Wake Of The West Tankers Decision, Mark G. Materna

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

This article proposes that, despite the West Tankers decision, parties are still not free to breach the terms of an arbitration agreement. On the contrary, there has been a strong trend by English courts to find ways of preventing parties from breaching such agreements. In short, this article serves to quell the panic and elucidate that the West Tankers decision is not a nail in the coffin, but rather a mechanism to reiterate European courts' dedication to ensuring that arbitration provisions remain a potent force against economic infidelity. Part II of this article will provide a brief background of anti-suit …

The “Ensuing Loss” Clause In Insurance Policies: The Forgotten And Misunderstood Antidote To Anti-Concurrent Causation Exclusions, Chris French

Faculty Scholarship

As a result of the 1906 earthquake and fire in San Francisco which destroyed the city, a clause known as the “ensuing loss” clause was created to address concurrent causation situations in which a loss follows both a covered peril and an excluded peril. Ensuing loss clauses appear in the exclusions section of such policies and in essence they provide that coverage for a loss caused by an excluded peril is nonetheless covered if the loss “ensues” from a covered peril. Today, ensuing loss clauses are found in “all risk” property and homeowners policies, which cover all losses except for …

Debunking The Myth That Insurance Coverage Is Not Available Or Allowed For Intentional Torts Or Damages, Christopher French

Faculty Scholarship

Over the years, a myth has developed that insurance coverage is not available or allowed for intentional injuries or damage. This myth has two primary bases: one, the “fortuity” doctrine, which provides that insurance should only cover losses that happen by chance; and two, public policy, which allegedly disfavors allowing insurance for intentional injuries or damage. This article dispels that myth. Many types of liability insurance policies expressly cover intentional torts including trademark infringement, copyright infringement, invasion of privacy, defamation, disparagement, and improper employment practices such as discrimination. In addition, punitive damages, which typically are awarded for intentional misconduct, are …

Hidden Costs? Malpractice Allegations And Defensive Medicine Among Cardiac Surgeons, Barak D. Richman, Marco Huesch

Faculty Scholarship

This article evaluates the impact of private allegations of malpractice against cardiac surgeons on their patients’ outcomes and characteristics. While tort law may impact observable physician costs, malpractice allegations also impose hidden costs that could also affect physician behavior. We employ a large and multi-year panel dataset and patient-level analysis to ascertain whether malpractice allegations influence a surgeon’s practicing behavior. Using a generalized difference-in-difference model that controls for unobserved patient heterogeneity, clustering of patients within surgeon offices, contemporaneous expected risk, and other patient variables, we measure whether an allegation of malpractices affects a physician’s service intensity and use of healthcare …

What Is Wrong About Wrongdoing, Anthony J. Sebok

Articles

This short article, which was prepared for a conference on civil recourse theory at Florida State University School of Law, asks whether Blackstone’s rejection of maintenance is inconsistent with the theoretical commitments of modern civil recourse theory. Blackstone strongly believed that third parties should not help victims of wrongdoing discover that they have been wronged, this article asks whether modern civil recourse theory is committed to the position (now in retreat throughout common law nations) that third parties who help strangers’ lawsuits are acting against the public interest (or, as Blackstone put it, are “pests of society . . . …

Stolen Art, Looted Antiquities, And The Insurable Interest Requirement, Robert L. Tucker

Akron Law Faculty Publications

Trafficking in stolen art and looted antiquities is a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Stolen art and looted antiquities are ultimately sold to museums or private collectors. Sometimes the purchasers acquire them in good faith. But other times, the purchasers know, suspect, or willfully blind themselves to the possibility that the piece was stolen or illegally excavated and exported up the chain of title.

This problem is compounded by customs and course of dealing in the art and antiquities trade. Dealers generally decline to provide meaningful information to prospective purchasers about the provenance of a piece, and sophisticated purchasers customarily acquiesce in …