Delaware Business Litigation Report

Delaware Superior Court Upholds Recovery Of Insurance Defense Costs

Catlin Specialty Insurance Company v. CBL & Associates Properties Inc., C.A. No. N16C-07-166 PRW CCLD (August 9, 2018)

This is an important decision because it upholds the right of an insurance company to recover defense costs it advanced when it is later determined there was no insurance coverage for the underlying litigation. While the opinion applies Tennessee law, some parts of the opinion suggest that the Court would reach the same result if Delaware law applied. That is so even though the Court recognized that permitting such a recovery is the minority positon in the United States. The opinion is also useful for its explanation of how an insurer may preserve its right to recover those advances by making it clear that it is advancing the costs subject to its right to recover them later if a court decides there was no insurance  coverage.

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