The Northwest Policyholder
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SB 728: A Commonsense Adjustment to Oregon Insurance Law
Once again Oregon legislatures are looking at removing the exemption of insurance companies from the Oregon Unfair Trade Practices Act. SB 728 makes violations of Oregon’s Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act (the “UCSPA”) an unlawful trade practic...
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Interpreting Insurance Exclusions for Flood and Surface Water Damage Caused by Human Activity in Oregon
Stormwater overflows and similar accidents are a frequent source of damage in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest generally. Insurers often deny coverage for resulting damage under the "surface and flood" waters exclusion. A recent case out of the U.S...
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Does the Causation-Trigger Wording of an Additional Insured Endorsement Matter?
When two companies agree to work together, they will try to allocate the risk of something going wrong to the company that's in the best position to prevent that from happening. For example, in the construction industry a general contractor will usua...
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Insurance Coverage for Trade Secrets Claims
In a competitive industry trade secrets can be incredibly valuable. As a result, when trade secrets are stolen, litigation is common. Customer information, supply-chain strategies, marketing plans: all of these have been the subject of lawsuits, typi...
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Oregon Court: “Sudden & Accidental” Exception to Pollution Exclusion Judged from Policyholder's Perspective
One of the most critical issues in litigation over coverage for long-tail environmental liabilities is the application of the "qualified pollution exclusion" and in particular the carve-out for pollution that is "sudden and accidental." A new decisio...
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Insurance Coverage & the Cannabis Industry
Properly insuring cannabis businesses, and companies that are involved in the industry but that are not themselves regulated under state cannabis law, can be a tricky undertaking. I recently wrote an article for the Oregon State Bar Cannabis Law Se...
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