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Congoleum Corp. v. ACE American Ins. Co.: No Coverage When Cooperation and Consent Obligations Are Violated
Coverage litigation in the case of Congoleum Corp. v. ACE American Ins. Co. ('Congoleum'), Dkt. No. MID-L-8908-01 (N.J. Super. Ct. May 18, 2007), provides a cautionary tale for insureds tempted to attempt a strategy to foist financial responsibility for asbestos or other mass tort liabilities upon their insurers.
Congoleum, a manufacturer of flooring products that once contained encapsulated asbestos, made a business decision to enter into a global agreement with asbestos plaintiffs' counsel that essentially had Congoleum paying very little money of its own, but generated thousands of asbestos claims, many of them more than dubious, against Congoleum. The global settlement was part of Congoleum's larger plan to use '524(g) of the Bankruptcy Code and a so-called prepackaged bankruptcy or 'pre-pack' to rid itself of current and future asbestos liabilities. The deal sounded too good to be true, and it was. The business decision was a legal disaster for Congoleum.
Instead of working with its insurers to address asbestos claims against it, Congoleum wound up ensnared in coverage and bankruptcy litigation, paying many tens of millions of dollars in legal and professional fees without accomplishing anything so far to resolve its asbestos liabilities. Courts essentially denounced its strategy, a chief hallmark of which was elimination of meaningful insurer participation, and those who fashioned it. One of its law firms was disqualified as having nonwaivable conflicts of interest.
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
Legal Possession: What Does It Mean?
Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.
The Stranger to the Deed Rule
In 1987, a unanimous Court of Appeals reaffirmed the vitality of the "stranger to the deed" rule, which holds that if a grantor executes a deed to a grantee purporting to create an easement in a third party, the easement is invalid. Daniello v. Wagner, decided by the Second Department on November 29th, makes it clear that not all grantors (or their lawyers) have received the Court of Appeals' message, suggesting that the rule needs re-examination.