As construction projects become more complex, new technologies and innovations more specialized, trades more regulated, and bidding more competitive, general construction contractors have become increasingly reliant on subcontractors to perform construction contracts. The result is that general contractors are less able to control, inspect, and even assess the work. Yet despite this continued shift, general […]
Category Archives: Commercial Litigation
When Independent Insurance Producers are Not-So-Independent: Illinois Appellate Court Rejects Insurer Request for Policy Rescission Due to Producer Conduct
February 27, 2018
Independent insurance producers often are thought to be, well, independent from the insurance companies for which they sell policies. Independent producers typically sell insurance policies for a number of carriers, and often work with intermediaries to sell policies for even more carriers, so that they can offer their policyholder clients the insurance product most suitable […]
Read Your Insurance Policy Carefully: Insured Bound to Terms of Policy Despite Alleged Representations by Insurer’s Agent
February 6, 2018
As we have learned in recent days, we all need to be careful with the things we say, for sometimes those things we say can be used against us. But the life lessons do not end there. We also need to read things carefully, for the things we fail to read can be used against […]
Missouri Appellate Court Finds Ambiguity in Anti-Stacking Provision, Allows Stacking of Limits of Liability in Four Separate Auto Liability Policies
February 1, 2018
The Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, issued an opinion on Jan. 31, 2018, in Shelter Mutual Insurance Company v. Lester that allowed stacking of full auto liability coverage policy limits on four separate policies. The underlying matter involved bodily injury claims brought by multiple claimants. Each of the auto insurer’s liability policies had applicable […]
Illinois Appellate Court Rejects Request to Re-Write Insurer’s Additional Insured Coverage to Conform with Construction Agreement
January 30, 2018
It is commonplace in construction projects for a contractor to require its subcontractors to purchase liability insurance that protects against certain claims and that includes the contractor as an additional insured. The problem is that many times the policy that the subcontractor purchases does not on its face meet the requirements set forth in the […]
Developments in Judicial Estoppel following Seymour v. Collins
October 19, 2017
Judicial estoppel, also known as estoppel by inconsistent positions of law, precludes a party from taking a position in a case that is contrary to a position it has taken in earlier legal proceedings. Often, it is asserted as an affirmative defense in a personal injury lawsuit where the plaintiff failed to disclose the existence […]
Total Eclipse of …Liability? A Cosmic Reminder of the Use and Effectiveness of Exculpatory Language in Contract
September 12, 2017
Southern Illinois was recently in the national spotlight as the path of a total solar eclipse passed across the state. This rare occurrence brought hundreds of thousands of people to a thin path of the state to experience a natural phenomenon that, if not experienced correctly, could cause serious and permanent eye injuries. It also […]
Does your company monitor its network or devices for network security or data confidentiality? Does your company have any policies or practices that seek access to any employees’ personal online accounts? If so, a recent amendment to Illinois’ Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act (“Act”) may require your company to adopt or revise its […]
New Trade Secret Protection Weapon
May 4, 2016
Unleashing a Trade Secret Misappropriation Federal Private Right of Action President Obama is poised to sign a bill passed unanimously by the Senate and House Judiciary Committee. What issue of the day could possibly secure such bipartisan support in a tumultuous presidential election year? One that even Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders could agree upon. […]
Seventh Circuit Rejects Class Plaintiff’s Attempt to Avoid CAFA Removal by Limiting Damages Sought in Complaint
April 23, 2014
On April 9, 2014, the Seventh Circuit issued its opinion in Johnson v. Pushpin Holdings, LLC, No. 14-8006 (7th Cir. April 9, 2014). In Pushpin, the Seventh Circuit held that before a class is certified, a statement by the named plaintiff in the complaint does not limit the amount of potential damages that the class […]