Yesterday I commented on Judge Sharp’s denial of the insurer’s motion for summary judgment on the policyholder’s bad faith claim in New Hampshire Ins. Co. v. Blackjack Cove, LLC, but there was another gold nugget in his opinion as well.  The basic facts of the case were that Blackjack Cove (a marina on Old Hickory

As many are aware, the Tennessee Legislature recently amended T.C.A. § 56-7-130, the statute requiring insurance carriers offering homeowner’s insurance in the state to “make available” sinkhole coverage to their insureds. The original statute was enacted in 2006, and its verbiage has created a few issues now going through the court systems. I wanted to comment further

The Tennessee Court of Appeals’ recent decision in Artist Building Partners v. Auto Owners Mut. Ins. Co. serves as an important reminder in coverage disputes that any ambiguities will be strictly construed against the insurance company and in favor of coverage. Tennessee courts have made clear over and over again that any language in an

Long title, I know, but hopefully it sparked your interest, or perhaps dredged up painful memories of drawing those sentence diagram structures on wide ruled paper, wondering if you would ever use that skill in “real life.”  Well, see how you think it worked in the case of Artist Building Partners v. Auto-Owners Mutual Insurance

I represented a Memphis homeowner a couple of years ago whose residential rental property was destroyed by fire. The policy provided coverage for fire loss, but contained an exclusion for "vandalism and malicious mischief  . . . if the dwelling has been vacant for more than 30 days immediately before the loss."  In our case, it was undisputed that the

The Tennessee Court of Appeals released Tuturea v. Tennessee Farmers Mutual Insurance Company on June 29, 2010.  Its certainly an interesting opinion, although a bit long for fun reading (29 pages). The basic facts are this.  Mr. Tuturea suffered from terminal cancer, and set fire to his house in an unsuccessful attempt to commit suicide.