Chess Checkmate

Federal Tort Claims Act Subrogation

The federal government is everywhere. It employs nearly 9.1 million workers, which is nearly 6% of total U.S. workforce. This includes nearly 2.1 million federal employees, 4.1 million contract employees, 1.2 million grant employees, 1.3 million active duty military personnel, and more than 500,000 postal service employees. They operate trucks, construct highways, build buildings, drive…

Covid-19 Spore

Orders Prohibiting “Outbound Collection Efforts” Not Likely To Affect Subrogation Efforts

Given the financial impact of COVID-19 on the country and world, both federal and local governments have scrambled to impose new protections for consumers. Federal protections have been put in place to prevent the collection of both principal and interest on certain federally-held student loans[1], as well as relief from foreclosure for many federally-backed mortgage…

Covid-19 Insurance Coverage

Insurers Face Delicate COVID-19 Coverage Decisions

Insurance companies are no dummies. The world’s largest insurance companies learned important lessons following previous worldwide health crises. Since the 2003 SARS pandemic, they have tightened up their policies and carefully crafted policy language excluding communicable diseases. They have anticipated the avalanche of business interruption claims which flow from worldwide catastrophes such as the Coronavirus…

Colorado Flag

Colorado Joins States Requiring Pre-Suit Disclosure Of Third-Party Liability Insurance Limits

There is an ongoing debate in the insurance field over whether a liability insurer has a duty to reveal its policy limits to a third-party claimant even before a lawsuit is filed. One approach—supported by the trial lawyers—presupposes that knowledge of the defendant’s insurance policy limits will facilitate settlement and avoid needless litigation which may…