Civil Litigation,
Insurance,
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Apr. 26, 2018
9th Circuit confirms that insurers bear heavy burden to avoid defense duty
A recent ruling follows California’s fundamental precepts that the duty to defend is broad, exclusions are to be narrowly interpreted, and even a small portion of an otherwise excluded complaint can trigger the duty to defend.
Linda D. Kornfeld
Partner
Blank Rome LLP
2029 Century Park East
Los Angeles , CA 90067
Email: lkornfeld@kasowitz.com
Linda serves as a chair of the Daily Journal's Women Leadership in Law conference taking place on May 2 in Beverly Hills, and will moderate the "#MeToo in the Legal Profession" panel.
Julia K. Holt
Of Counsel
Blank Rome LLP
Julia is in the firm's insurance recovery practice.
Under California law, an insurer may not shirk its duty to pay for a policyholder's defense of underlying litigation unless it meets a heavy burden and establishes that no potential for coverage exists with respect to any aspect of the underlying lawsuit against the policyholder.
With respect to the duty to defend, "[t]o prevail, the insured must prove the existence of a potential for coverage, while the insurer must establish the a...
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