HNRK Coverage Corner

Last month an Oregon federal court held that the phrase “and/or” in a communicable disease exclusion was ambiguous and denied an insurer’s bid for summary judgment. For coverage counsel, the opinion in Scottsdale Insurance Co. v. Bruce Packing Co., Inc. provides an interesting analysis of whether a listeria outbreak is both “infectious” and “contagious”—and for lawyers in nearly every practice area, it’s a reminder that precision in contract language is important. 

Background

Bruce Packing Co. operated meat processing facilities. In 2024, the U.S ...

Today at the Coverage Corner, we look at a decision of the New York Appellate Division First Department on a D&O insurance coverage issue that is near and dear to my heart:  the treatment of “related claims,” in this case under a prior acts exclusion.  I have successfully litigated this issue in New York, written about it on this blog (see here, here, and here), and earlier this year moderated a panel at the ABA’s Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee meeting, entitled Déjà Sued:  Coverage Pitfalls and Possibilities for Related Claims Under Claims-Made Liability Policies.

In ...

This week at the Coverage Corner, we examine a Second Circuit decision that wades into hot-button topic:  liability coverage for environmental claims involving PFAS (colloquially known as “forever chemicals”).  In a summary ordered issued on May 4, 2026, in Town of Harrietstown v. Westchester Fire Ins. Co., Case No. 22-253-cv, the Second Circuit affirmed a decision from the Northern District of New York, granting summary judgment to the insured on its claim for defense costs.  We wrote about the district court’s decision in an article in Chambers’ 2026 Insurance & ...

Earlier this year, the Delaware Supreme Court issued an important 3–2 decision on the application of a “bump-up” provision to losses arising from a merger transaction. (See our previous post about this type of policy provision, here.) In Illinois National Insurance Co. v. Harman International Industries, Inc., C.A. No. N22C-05-098 (Del. Jan. 27, 2026), the court affirmed an award of summary judgment for the policyholder, holding that three D&O insurers—AIG, Chubb, and Berkley—could not invoke a “bump-up” provision to deny coverage for a $28 million settlement of ...

Construction begets injuries, which beget lawsuits, which beget liability insurance claims, which frequently beget coverage disputes and litigation that raise a unique set of issues (see previous Coverage Corner posts on construction insurance issues here). Today at the Coverage Corner, we examine a recent Second Circuit decision that takes a deep dive into the canons of construction (think contra proferentem, the “rule of the last antecedent” and the “series qualifier canon”) to resolve a dispute over insurance coverage for a real-life construction injury claim ...