Legal Articles, Corporate

A motion to bifurcate is often the first line of defense in a litigated first-party insurance claim. The Defendant carrier contends bifurcation streamlines discovery and disposes of “extra-contractual” issues without having to use the court’s time and resources. In truth, however, by moving to bifurcate, the first-party insurance is trying to accomplish two major goals: 1) prevent discovery of harmful and/or “proprietary” business and/or claims file information that the insurance company knows will support an insured’s bad faith and extra-contractual claims; and 2) delay addressing the extra contractual claims by creating another hurdle for the insured to clear, i.e. a discovery and trial on the damages before allowing a discovery or trial on the merits of the extra-contractual first-party claims. The individual facts and circumstances of the case that warrant non-bifurcation should be emphasized with the court. Plaintiff should emphasize facts which could permit recovery on extracontractual claims regardless of whether or Plaintiff can prevail on the contractual claim. Plaintiff should emphasize arguments that the extra-contractual issues will have to be resolved regardless of the number of trials or the order of discovery, so in the interest of judicial efficiency, bifurcation would not be appropriate.

Do you have coverage for lost business under your general liability policy's business interruption provisions?

The Nevada Supreme Court has just made director and officer liability harder to reach.

Starting a Company? Don't solicit investments until you consult an attorney regarding the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and State Registration Rules regarding soliciting and receiving investments.

Work Place Violence Restraining Orders

This article describes the relation between, late notice, the notice prejudice rule and the different types of policies issued by insurance companies such as: claims made; claims made and reported; and occurrence.

We recently filed several FINRA arbitrations for customers of former VOYA Financial financial advisor James T. Flynn of Greenville, S. Carolina.

We are representing a large group of former clients of now decease, former financial advisor, Dexter Thomas of Dallas, Texas.

One of the most common mistakes a business owner can make is failing to properly establish and maintain a business entity separate from their personal assets. By creating a separate business entity, the business owner or owners create a liability "shield" for the activities of the business and its employees. There are many entities available, but the most common entity formed is a Limited Liability Company ("LLC") that has the business owner or owners as "members" of the LLC.

A California Limited Liability Company may be suspended for several different reasons by different entities.