Insurance Law Commons^™

Judicial Interpretations Of Insurance Contract Disputes: Toward A Realistic Middle Ground Approach,, Peter N. Swisher

Law Faculty Publications

In a previous law review article, this author analyzed the seemingly arbitrary and contradictory decisional patterns in American insurance law cases. The article concluded that these contradictory judicial patterns could be understood and appreciated if one recognized the fundamental impact-and clash-of two competing theories of American jurisprudence: Legal Formalism and Legal Functionalism in an insurance law context.

Broadly speaking, Legal Formalism is based upon the traditional view that correct legal decisions are determined by pre-existing legal rules, and that the courts must reach their decisions in a logical, socially neutral manner. Formalist judges therefore apply the philosophy of judicial restraint …

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Insurance Law, E. Lewis Kincer Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

The Supreme Court of Virginia has recently decided several significant cases in the insurance realm. The court has been most active, at least in number of cases, in the field of uninsured [UM] and underinsured motorist [UIM] coverages, followed closely by decisions affecting automobile liability insurance policies. Although no clearly discernable trend appears to have been established by the court's insurance decisions in the past year, several observations may be made of the cases, as well as the court's general philosophy of judicial interpretation of insurance policies. "An insurance policy is a contract; therefore, we give the words used in …

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: An Overview Of Automobile Liability Insurance In Virginia, Eileen N. Wagner, Jason W. Konvicka, Deborah M.B. Mcconnell

University of Richmond Law Review

Automobile liability insurance coverage is considered one of the basic necessities of modern living, following closely on the heels of shelter and food. This priority is the outgrowth of two facts of life: one, that automobile transportation is practically unavoidable and two, that automobile accidents are practically inevitable. Thus, the shadow of liability for the damage and the suffering of automobile accidents falls across most of the American population. Because the losses which may be sustained by the negligent-and the innocent alike-are so great, the need for protection has escalated to the top of modern society's list of indispensable commodities. …

Judicial Rationales In Insurance Law: Dusting Off The Formal For The Function, Peter N. Swisher

Law Faculty Publications

The purpose of this Article is to demonstrate that there is indeed a great deal of method within this apparent judicial 'hiadness" if one properly understands and appreciates the two competing theories of Judicial Formalism versus Judicial Functionalism in an insurance law context. And with a proper understanding of these two competing judicial theories, numerous apparent inconsistencies in insurance law decisions may be reconciled within each particular theoretical framework.

Accordingly, this Article will present a general overview of these two competing theories of American jurisprudence, and then discuss their conflicting applications in various insurance law decisions by utilizing a number …

Stacking Of Uninsured And Underinsured Motor Vehicle Coverages, John G. Douglass, Francis E. Telegadas

University of Richmond Law Review

Often, the first question asked by a plaintiff's attorney in evaluating a serious automobile accident case is, "How much insurance coverage is available?" That same question can pose perplexing issues for defense attorneys or insurance counsel in assessing a client's exposure to liability. In Virginia, these questions often re- quire the attorney to consider the application of Virginia's Uninsured Motorist statutes and the import of "stacking" of coverage.

Stacking Of Uninsured And Underinsured Motor Vehicle Coverages, John G. Douglass

Law Faculty Publications

This article begins with a brief introduction to Virginia's uninsured motorist statute. The article then addresses the stacking of uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage and the problem of multiple tortfeasors. It also addresses the priority among insurers, where several uninsured motorist insurance carriers may be held liable for a single injury. The article closes with a summary of the most recent legislative and judicial pronouncements on the subject. A review of Virginia cases demonstrates that the result in almost any stacking problem is best determined by reference to a very simple rule: Read the Statute and Read the Policy!

Environmental Liens And Title Insurance, Robert S. Bozarth

University of Richmond Law Review

Increased concern for the environment and environmental protection laws have affected title insurance. To understand this effect, it is necessary to examine our environmental problems, the environmental laws and the nature of title insurance. This article also looks at the title insurance industry's reaction to these environmental risks as compared to the reaction of the property/casualty insurance industry.

Medical Malpractice Review Panels In Operation In Virginia, William H. Daughtrey Jr., Charles H. Smith

University of Richmond Law Review

The last major revision of Virginia statutes relating to medical malpractice was in 1976. At that time the General Assembly provided for medical malpractice review panels and mandated a method of reporting medical malpractice claims. These innovations were in response to a perceived medical malpractice crisis in the mid-1970's. A symptom of the crisis was the astronomical rise in the cost of medical malpractice insurance premiums. This increase plagued patients as well as physicians, hospitals, and other health care providers. The higher premiums, of course, were reflected in fees for services rendered by providers. In addition, providers began to practice …

The Impact Of Allstate Insurance Co. V. Hague On Constitutional Limitations On Choice Of Law, W. Clark Williams Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

The development of constitutional limitations on choice of law by the United States Supreme Court has turned primarily on the due process clause and the full faith and credit clause of the United States Constitution. In theory at least, each constitutional provision rests upon separate grounds. The full faith and credit clause, as it applies to public acts, would compel a forum state under appropriate circumstances to honor the sovereignty of a foreign state in the federal system and to apply the law of the foreign state whose interests are sufficiently compelling. The due process clause limits the power of …

Insurer's Liability For Prejudgment Interest: A Modern Approach, David J. Pierce

University of Richmond Law Review

The term "prejudgment interest" denotes the interest on a judgment computed from the time of the actual injury to the date of the final judgment. It is interest on a sum of money which, until the rendering of final judgment, has not been declared to be damages for the plaintiff. Prejudgment interest is not punitive. It is better viewed as compensatory in nature because its purpose is to indemnify a claimant for the loss. of the money which presumably could have been earned had payment of damages not been delayed. Once a cause of action accrues, the injured party becomes …

Insurers' Liability For Excess Judgments In In Virginia: Negligence Or Bad Faith?, Barbara A. Dalvano

University of Richmond Law Review

Liability insurers have become increasingly concerned over the possibility that they may be responsible for satisfying excess judgments. This concern is justified. In Crisci v. Security Insurance Co., the California Supreme Court generated new developments in insurance law by predicating an insurer's liability for failing to settle claims against its insured upon a finding of mere negligence. Traditionally, an insurer was held liable for an excess judgment only if the insured was able to bear the burden of showing that the company acted in "bad faith" in failing to settle a claim. Virginia adopts this traditional view.

Primary Liability Under Excess Insurance Clauses: State Capital Insurance Co. V. Mutual Assurance Society Against Fire On Buildings, Paul K. Campsen

University of Richmond Law Review

Insurance is a contract by which the insurer undertakes to indemnify the insured against loss arising from the destruction of or injury to the insured's property as a result of certain causes. By its very nature an indemnity contract obligates the insurer to reimburse the insured for the amount of actual loss suffered by the insured. There are, however, situations in which multiple insurance coverage exists; that is, the same interest and the same risk are insured at the same time by more than one separate and distinct insurance contract, each presumably liable in the event of loss of or …

Insurance-Stacking-Multiple Recovery Permitted Under Single Policy Insuring More Than One Vehicle

University of Richmond Law Review

"Pyramiding" or "stacking" as applied to an automobile insurance policy covering more than one vehicle occurs when a claimant under the provisions of a policy is permitted to aggregate the limits of the units of coverage in that policy to satisfy a claim against the insurer. This enables a maximum possible recovery of a sum equal to the declared limits of the insurer's liability multiplied by the number of vehicles covered under the policy. The Virginia Supreme Court has previously applied the concept of stacking to a claim under the medical payments coverage provision of a multi-car policy. In two …

Book Reviews, Jack S. Shackleton, James R. Saul

University of Richmond Law Review

These are the book reviews from 1972.

Recent Legislation, J. Rodney Johnson

University of Richmond Law Review

The 1972 session of the General Assembly was especially active in the areas of wills, trusts, and estates. Much of this legislation deals with fine points not affecting the average lawyer in his practice. However, the following items of legislation should be of general interest to the attorney whose practice involves probate work or estate planning, even though he does not hold himself out as a specialist in these areas.

Recent Legislation

University of Richmond Law Review

This is a list of the recent legislation from 1970.

Burden Of Proof For Recovery On Accident Policy Where The Defense Is Suicide-Virginia's Answer

University of Richmond Law Review

When the defense of suicide is raised in opposition to a claim for recovery on a life insurance policy, on a double indemnity provision for accidental death therein, or on an accident policy, courts are troubled by the allocation of the burden of proof. If the claim is made on a standard life insurance policy, suicide must be expressly excluded to be a valid defense. If so excluded, the defendant-insurer bears the burden of proving that the death was suicidal. On the other hand, if the claim for recovery is on an accident policy or on a double indemnity provision …

Basic Protection And The Future Of Negligence Law, Robert E. Keeton

University of Richmond Law Review

Coming to full flower only in the nineteenth century,' negligence law is still a tender young plant among the hardy redwoods of legal history. Yet the jeopardy in which it stands is due not to its youth but to its aging inflexibility-to its failure to adapt to the era of the automobile. This is not to say that its end is at hand. Rather, a future of some kind for negligence law seems assured. The questions in doubt are what kind and for how long. The surest way of causing it to be inglorious and brief is to continue to …