SDV Insights

Advice for Providing Notice for D&O Policies Renewing During the COVID-19 Pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic affects companies' economic performance, we anticipate an uptick in Directors & Officers (D&O) Liability claims. Attempts by companies to downplay the effects of supply-chain disruptions or overall performance due to shutdowns are potential minefields for D&O claims

Read More +

Protection of Property/Sue & Labor Coverage May be Available for Coronavirus Costs

One aspect of many first-party property insurance policies that has been largely overlooked in association with the recent Coronavirus outbreak is protection of property coverage. Protection of property coverage, which can be found as a coverage extension or even as a condition in the policy, can take a variety of forms, but generally provides coverage for costs incurred to temporarily protect and preserve the insured property.

Read More +

French Laundry Spices Up COVID-19 Business Interruption Debate

On March 26, 2020, Michelin-rated Napa Valley restaurants, French Laundry and Bouchon Bistro, and their celebrity chef, Thomas Keller, filed the second known coronavirus-related declaratory judgment (DJ) lawsuit by a restaurant. The restaurants filed their DJ against Hartford Fire Insurance Company just seven days after Napa County issued a Shelter at Home Order.

Read More +

Virus Exclusion? - Don't Abandon Hope for Coverage Just Yet

Companies across all industries have been deeply impacted by the social-distancing protocols and economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Naturally, competent business owners have looked to their commercial business and property insurance programs to determine what coverage, if any, they may have to offset the financial losses being suffered. To their dismay, many such entities have discovered that their policies specifically exclude losses related to virus.

Read More +

Two More Insureds Ante Up: Oklahoma Tribes Step Up to the Business Interruption Table

On Tuesday, March 24, 2020, the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations (the "Nations"), located in Oklahoma, filed separate business interruption coverage lawsuits against their collective group of insurers who allegedly issued "all risk" policies to both Nations.

Read More +

New York Joins New Jersey, Massachusetts and Ohio in Discussing Legislation That Would Require Property Insurers To Pay COVID-19 Business Interruption Claims

If approved, New York Draft Assembly Bill A10226 (the "Bill") would require property insurers to cover business interruption losses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bill would have immediate retroactive effect applying to property policies containing business interruption and loss of use and occupancy coverage, and in force on March 7, 2020, the date Governor Cuomo declared a State of Emergency.

Read More +

Massachusetts and Ohio Join the Effort to Insure COVID-19 Business Interruption Losses

On March 24, 2020, the Massachusetts and Ohio legislatures proposed bills that would provide insurance coverage to small businesses for business interruption losses sustained during the COVID-19 pandemic. These new developments come less than two weeks after New Jersey became the first state in the nation to introduce legislation on this issue.

Read More +

COVID-19 Business Interruption Challenges

COVID-19 Business Interruption Challenges

Read More +

Third-Party Complaint Triggers Duty to Defend in New York

A New York appellate court, in its recent decision in All State Interior Demolition Inc. v. Scottsdale Ins. Co., 92 N.Y.S.3d 256 (N.Y. App. Div. 2019), held that the allegations in a third-party complaint triggered an insurer's duty to defend an additional insured, even when the third-party complaint was filed by the additional insured.

Read More +

An Insurance Checklist for the Hospitality and Commercial Real Estate Industries in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

No person or industry in the world will go unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Two related industries that are being hit the hardest are the hospitality and the commercial real estate industries. The hospitality industry is comprised of four segments: food and beverage (F&B), travel and tourism, lodging, and recreation. These four segments often overlap with each other and most segments overlap, to some extent, with the commercial real estate industry.

Read More +

CONTACT US


The email you are sending does not create an attorney-client relationship with SDV. We do not agree to representation until we have performed a check for conflicts of interest and expressly agree to provide services in a particular matter via an engagement letter. The information submitted to us via this website will NOT be treated as confidential or privileged as a lawyer/client communication and our receipt of this information does not prevent us from representing a client related to the subject of your inquiry.

Northeast

35 Nutmeg Drive
Trumbull, CT 06611

203.287.2100

233 Mount Airy Road
Basking Ridge, NJ 07920

973.446.7300

Southeast

999 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Ste 603
Naples, FL 34108

239.316.7244

West Coast

One BetterWorld Circle
Temecula, CA 92590

951.365.3145

SDV is headquartered in Connecticut, with regional offices in New Jersey, Florida, and California to better serve our clients. We are ready to answer your questions and are eager to assist you in developing solutions.