Insurance services and claims solutions provider Charles Taylor is launching a new US-based division that is focused on offering pre-risk and post-loss environmental services.

Known as Charles Taylor Environmental Technical Services (CT Environmental), the new business will be led by Kellie Vazquez, SVP of CT Environmental. Vazquez has 12 years of experience providing environmental services to the insurance industry.

CT Environmental will provide a full range of environmental specialty services to clients throughout the US, from its location in California. The division's services â€' all designed to meet the needs of the commercial, industrial, and residential sectors â€' will include asbestos, lead, mold, bacteria, sewage, and soot assessments, as well as indoor air quality testing.

As Eileen Garczynski sees it, her firm's recent survey of lawyers' professional liability claims is definitely a good news/bad news type of situation â€" although that 'good news' part might change in the near future.

Wine grape growers in Texas and surrounding states filed a lawsuit last week against drug-maker Bayer-Monsanto and chemical giant BASF for the damage their cotton herbicide has caused to vineyards.

Inappropriate behavior during video conferences can lead to employment practices liability claims, an expert with The Travelers Companies Inc. warns.

On May 20, 2021, the Supreme Court of Illinois upheld the state appellate decision finding that that West Bend Mutual Insurance Company must defend its insured, a tanning salon, against a class-action lawsuit claiming violation of the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) under two business owners' liability policies.

Financial institutions and their directors have to navigate a rapidly changing world, marked by new and emerging risks driven by cyber exposures based on the sector's reliance on technology, a growing burden of compliance and the turbulence of Covid-19.

To date, much of the insurance industry's focus on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been on business interruption coverage under commercial property insurance policies.

Things are looking pretty rough for GEICO, as not only did the insurer recently suffer a data breach, but it was also discovered that the hackers responsible are using consumers' compromised information to fraudulently apply for unemployment benefits.

Social inflation is a huge pain point in US liability insurance. It is a term used to describe the phenomenon of rising costs of insurance claims resulting from increased litigation, broader definitions of liability, more plaintiff-friendly legal decisions, and larger (sometimes nuclear) compensatory jury awards.

Last month, Florida lawmakers passed tort reform legislation by extending COVID-19 liability protection to businesses and health care providers, but Florida's construction industry says they're facing a form of lawsuit abuse that lawmakers failed to address.

In recent years, there have been changes across jurisdictions, expanding the scope of potential liability for bad-faith damages. In addition, there are challenges in navigating the continued erosion of the attorney-client privilege in bad-faith litigation.

Historically, the common law tort of public nuisance aimed to uphold community morals and address public health violations. Now, public nuisance has emerged as a central cause of action in some of the largest environmental and non-environmental claims facing the insurance industry, raising compelling coverage issues.

An excess D&O insurer had no obligation to contribute to Vizio's settlement with its primary general liability insurer for liabilities arising from the Smart TV Litigation, a California federal district court has held.

Commercial liability clients do not have to settle personal injury lawsuits even if the defendants are perceived as having deep pockets, a recent Court of Appeal for Ontario ruling suggests.

To date, climate change-related litigation, and the resulting economic and environmental impacts, has been a tort with no successful path for private litigation.