December 28, 2017.

To Defend Or Not To Defend: The Dilemma for Carriers, Subcontractors, and their Counsel in Construction Defect Cases

Don Soto of Carl Warren & Company, James Hailey of Lewis, Brisbois, Bisgaard & Smith, LLP, Jayne Pittman of Conroy Simberg, and Caryn Siebert of CLM Advisors presented the content of this article at the 2017 CLM & Business Insurance Construction Conference in San Diego. The session focused on the ongoing dilemma in construction litigation regarding demands for defense and indemnity from general contractors and developers to subcontractors and their carriers. The panelists addressed the applicable case law and statutes in the West, Southeast, and South regions relating to indemnification and additional insureds. They also discussed firsthand experiences with large loss claim handling with examples of the pros and cons in accepting tenders of defense.

Session Takeaways:

• Be aware of the law in the jurisdiction where the case is filed as it will impact both the coverages and the exposure for each participant. Some states are more favorable than others.
• A successful settlement of indemnity at mediation requires a positive relationship between the adjusters and defense and coverage counsel. Proper planning from the demanding contractor of the requested information is also important in order to evaluate exposure and set appropriate reserves
• The goal of the carrier should be to resolve indemnity contributions early.

Read the full article below.

To Defend Or Not To Defend. The Dilemma for Carriers, Subcontractors and their Counsel in Construction Defect Cases

Article content presented at the CLM & Business Insurance Construction Conference in San Diego. Read More

Don Soto is a Claims Manager at Carl Warren & Company. He can be reached at dsoto@carlwarren.com.