Duty to Defend
Courts that have interpreted indemnification provisions that included the duty to defend have explained that this means the consultant must defend its client (pay legal fees on behalf of its client) as the litigation is ongoing — and that it cannot wait until the conclusion of the litigation to determine whether it is found to have negligently performed services and therefore owe a separate duty to indemnify. The courts see the duty to defend and the duty to indemnify as two separate and unique duties.
ConstructionRisk articles relating to Duty to Defend are below.
Court Applies ‘Professional Liability Exclusion’ So Had No ‘Duty to Defend’ Architect Under CGL Policy
By James Rhodes, Esq. ConstructionRisk Counsel, PLLC Introduction A federal appeals court, applying Louisiana law, held that an insurer did not owe a duty to defend its insured, an architect, in a suit by the architect's former client. The court explained that the...
No Duty To Defend under CPL Policy for Natural Gas Pipe Explosion
By J. Kent Holland, Esq. and James N. Rhodes, Esq.ConstructionRisk Counsel, PLLC Published on IRMI.com A Wisconsin appeals court found that an insurer's duty to defend under a contractors pollution liability (CPL) policy was not triggered by an explosion caused when a...
CGL Insurance Carrier in Connecticut Owed Duty to Defend Contractor – Based on Subcontract Work Exception to “Your Work” Exclusion
Under Connecticut law it was held that a CGL carrier had a duty to defend its named insured, swimming pool construction prime contractor, against suits by homeowners alleging cracking in their new pools due to defective workmanship by concrete supply subcontractors....
CGL Insurance Carrier in Tennessee Owed Duty to Defend – Based on Subcontract Work Exception to “Your Work” Exclusion
A CGL insurance carrier owed a duty to defend its insured against a homeowner suit that alleged defective work, despite lack of clarity in the complaint that the work was performed by a subcontractor, and despite any indication in the complaint that the work caused...
The Unrelenting Tide of the Duty to Defend
By Brian K. Stewart, Esq. and Kevin J. Engelien, Esq.– Collins Collins Muir & Stewart, LLP. The immediate contractual duty to defend, once thought by some to be isolated to the “not so golden anymore” state of California as a result of two important court...
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