WEST ACADEMIC PUBLISHINGS
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Professor of Law Emeritus, University of San Diego
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Professor of Law, Chancellor and Dean Emeritus,
University of California,
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President, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
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Professor of Law, Yale Law School
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University Professor, New York University
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GRANT S. NELSON
Professor of Law, Pepperdine University
Professor of Law Emeritus, University of California, Los Angeles
A. BENJAMIN SPENCER
Earle K. Shawe Professor of Law,
University of Virginia School of Law
JAMES J. WHITE
Robert A. Sullivan Professor of Law Emeritus,
University of Michigan
I
INSURANCE LAW
IN A NUTSHELL
FIFTH EDITION
JOHN F. DOBBYN
Professor of Law
Villanova University
CHRISTOPHER C. FRENCH
Visiting Assistant Professor of Law
Penn State University
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ISBN: 978-1-63459-919-1
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For Jodi
V
PREFACE
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Publication of the fifth edition of this book brings with it a major change: Christopher C. French, a Visiting Professor of Law at Penn State Law, has become a co-author of the book. Prior to becoming a full time law professor, Professor French was a partner at K&L Gates LLP where he litigated insurance coverage disputes for more than 20 years.
Every chapter in the book has undergone a substantial revision since the last edition. In addition, numerous new sections have been added to the book. For example, sections have been added regarding the rules of insurance policy interpretation; lines of liability insurance other than Commercial General Liability Insurance (CGL) such as Directors and Officers Liability Insurance (D&O), Errors and Omissions Insurance (E&O or Professional Liability), Employers Liability Insurance (EPL), Environmental Impairment Insurance (EIL), Cyber Insurance, Terrorism Insurance and Flood Insurance; the key issues of trigger, number of occurrences and allocation in long-tail liability claims; personal or advertising liability coverage; business risk and owned property exclusions; the duty of utmost good faith and the follow the fortunes doctrine under reinsurance policies; and guaranty funds and surplus line insurers.
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Insurance law ostensibly is a subset of contract law. Yet, contract law is only one of three factors that underlie insurance law. The second factor is public policy. Public policy weighs heavily in some areas of insurance law, particularly when it comes to compensating victims. When public policy interests are implicated, they can override the principles of contract law. The third factor, which manifests in the rules of policy interpretation such as contra proferentum and the reasonable expectations doctrine, is the often unstated intention of courts to protect unsophisticated or ill-informed consumers interests when facing powerful insurance companies that draft and sell complex, lengthy insurance policies.
This book attempts to explain the various concepts, doctrines, and issues presented in insurance law in a clear way without burdening the reader with extensive citations to cases, statutes and other authorities. As such, it is intended for both practitioners and law students.
Finally, I want to thank four great research assistants from Penn State Law who contributed to the fifth edition of this book: Andrew Carroll, Christina Gallagher, Neeraj Kumar, and Tracey Timlin.
C HRISTOPHER C. F RENCH
University Park, Pennsylvania
December 2015
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OUTLINE
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TABLE OF CASES
References are to Pages
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Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co........................................... 349
Aetna v. Dow Chemical Company .................. 164, 165, 293
American Economy Insurance Company v. Liggett ..... 283, 294
Aqua Craft I, Inc. v. Boston Old Colony Insurance Company ...................................................................... 186
Argonaut Southwest Ins. Co. v. Maupin ........................ 218
Arnold v. Indemnity Fire Insurance Company of New York ..................................................................... 191, 192
Asermely v. Allstate Insurance Co................................. 445
Auerbach v. Maryland Cas. Co....................................... 438
Bacon v. Federal Kemper Life Insurance Company ....... 30
Bailey v. Gulf Ins. Co...................................................... 374
Big Town Nursing Homes, Inc. v. Reserve Ins. Co........ 218
Birth Center v. St. Paul Companies, Inc....................... 446
Bishop v. Allstate Insurance Company .......................... 178
BMW of N. Amer., Inc. v. Gore ....................................... 461
Brandt v. Superior Court ................................................ 462
Brown v. Guarantee Insurance Company .... 438, 439, 440, 442
Brownell v. Board of Education ............................. 266, 267
Burne v. The Franklin Life Insurance Company .......... 193, 194, 195, 196, 197
Burr v. Commercial Travelers Mutual Accident Association ................................................................... 226
Burstein v. Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance Company ....................... 136, 137, 138, 141, 144, 145, 146
Burton v. John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company ........................................................................ 31
C & J Fertilizer, Inc. v. Allied Mutual Insurance Company .............................................................. 184, 185
California Casualty General Insurance Company v. Superior Court ............................................................. 464
