Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog

In an insurance coverage lawsuit brought by 3M Co. and certain of 3M’s wholly owned subsidiaries, including Aearo LLC, the Delaware Superior Court recently ruled that 3M’s payment of litigation costs on Aearo’s behalf do not count toward Aearo’s $250,000 Self-Insured Retention (SIR) contained in several of its legacy policies. This ruling is significant because 3M and Aearo seek, among other things, more than $370 million in defense fees for nearly 300,000 product liability lawsuits consolidated in a multidistrict litigation in the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida and state court in Minnesota. Parent companies, and those looking to acquire, should be aware of legacy policy provisions like those expressly prohibiting satisfaction of an SIR by anyone except the named insured.

On February 3, 2017, members of Hunton & Williams’ insurance group, led by Insurance Practice Head Walter Andrews, and firm associate Anna Lazarus, achieved a significant victory in the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, in Hillsborough County v. Star Insurance Co.  The 11^th Circuit’s published opinion, available here, addressed an issue of first impression under Florida law involving the impact of Florida’s statutory limitations on liability and an excess liability policy’s self-insured retention.  The decision provides substantial guidance under Florida law ...