All Entries — page 5
The full digest in part order. Use the A–Z index to look up a subject by name, or search.
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Injury & Liability
Negligence: Duty, Breach, Causation, and Damages
Negligence requires duty, breach, actual and proximate cause, and damages. Every element must be proved, and each is defined by the law of the state where the injury happened.
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Injury & Liability
Premises Liability: Invitees, Licensees, and Trespassers
Premises liability traditionally sorts entrants into invitees, licensees, and trespassers, each owed a different duty. A substantial minority of states now applies one reasonableness standard instead.
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Injury & Liability
Products Liability: Design, Manufacturing, and Warning Defects
Products liability recognizes manufacturing, design, and warning defects. States differ over whether design defect is judged by consumer expectations, risk-utility, or a reasonable alternative design.
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Injury & Liability
Proving Notice in a Slip-and-Fall Claim
A slip-and-fall claimant must show the occupier created the hazard, actually knew of it, or should have discovered it. Some states relieve that burden through the mode-of-operation rule.
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Injury & Liability
State Tort Claims Acts: Notice Deadlines and Immunity Limits
Claims against public bodies are governed by tort claims acts that require early written notice, preserve broad immunities, and often cap recovery well below ordinary tort limits.
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Injury & Liability
Wrongful Death and Survival Actions: Who Sues for What
Wrongful death and survival actions are separate statutory claims. One compensates family members for their losses, the other continues the claim the decedent held at death.
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Insurance
Additional Insured Endorsements and Who Is Actually Covered
Additional insured status comes from the endorsement's wording, not from the contract that required it. Common forms limit coverage to liability caused by the named insured's own acts.
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Insurance
Appraisal Clauses in Property Insurance Disputes
An appraisal clause lets either side force a valuation process run by two appraisers and an umpire. The award binds on the amount of loss but not on coverage.
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Insurance
Business Interruption Coverage and the Physical Loss Requirement
Business interruption coverage follows property damage. Without direct physical loss of or damage to covered property, the lost income clause generally never engages at all.
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Insurance
Duty to Defend Compared With Duty to Indemnify
An insurer must defend if any allegation could potentially fall within coverage, but it pays only what the policy actually covers. The two duties are measured differently.
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Insurance
Insurance Bad Faith: Claims Handling and Extracontractual Exposure
Bad faith is what happens when an insurer handles a claim unreasonably rather than merely wrongly. The standards, remedies, and statutory overlay differ sharply by state.
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Insurance
Late Notice: When a Delay Forfeits Coverage
Delay in reporting a claim used to forfeit coverage automatically. Most states now require the insurer to show prejudice, but claims-made policies are usually the exception.
