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The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois recently held an insurer responsible for payment of its original liability limits, disregarding policy language clearly requiring reduction of limits through payment of defense expenses. The court held that the insurer was estopped from enforcing the policy’s “declining limits” provision because defense counsel retained by the insurer provided what the court believed was an inaccurate identification of policy limits during discovery i

From the Desk of Matt Ukishima: Oregon limits the timeframe for initiating a product liability civil action for personal injury or property damage to ten years from the date of purchase (statute of ultimate repose). In cases where the product was manufactured in a different state with a longer statute of repose, plaintiffs may sue in Oregon and get the benefit of the longer limitations period. But, what happens if the manufacturing state has no statute of repose for product liability claims? Rea

December 20th, 2018 In Case v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co., Inc. (No. B281732, filed 11/21/18, ord. pub. 12/18/18), a California appeals court held that the allowable reduction from uninsured motorist (UM) benefits for “payable” workers’ compensation benefits meant “eligible,” whether the insured sought the benefits or not. As a result, the court found that a genuine dispute over resolution of the insured’s workers’ compensation claim negated a claim for bad faith delay in payment

On January 24, 2019, the Appellate Division First Department dealt a blow to plaintiffs' attempts to hide their activities on social media. In the case of Vasquez-Santos v Matthew, 2019 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 527, the Court held that, "[private social media information can be discoverable to the extent it 'contradicts or conflicts with [a] plaintiff's alleged restrictions, disabilities, and losses, and other claims'"In Vasquez, the plaintiff, a semi-professional basketball player, alleged that the

Although at times cumbersome, retention of all records is an essential duty of real estate agents and brokers. In fact, not only is it a duty of agents and brokers, it is also a legal requirement. Under California Business & Professions Code §10148, "A licensed real estate broker shall retain for three years copies of all listings, deposit receipts, canceled checks, trust records, and other documents executed by him or her or obtained by him or her in connection with any transactions for whi