Month

June 2011
A recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals case included favorable holdings for subrogating carriers on the types of damages recoverable in maritime cases. The case, Oswalt v. Resolute Industries, Inc., 2:08-cv-01600-MJP (June 16, 2011), stemmed from a fire on a vessel that originated at a heater that was being repaired by Resolute Industries. The vessel...
In March, we discussed the importance of pleading common law duties separate and distinct from a builder’s contractual duties in order to preserve tort-based construction defect actions under Michigan law. In its opinion released June 6, 2011, the Michigan Supreme Court recently reinforced but fine-tuned this advice in Loweke v. Ann Arbor Ceiling & Partition...
A fire sprinkler system is supposed to suppress fires. But, in August 2009, a fire sprinkler system in an apartment complex in Truckee, California did just the opposite. The fire began as a grease cooking fire. Then, a fire sprinkler system with a reported 71.2% concentration of glycerin antifreeze deployed during the fire. The resulting...
The Washington Court of Appeals recently ruled that a seller may be the sole party held strictly liable for a manufacturing defect if the product is sold under the seller’s brand or trade name. In 2007, Monika Johnson was riding in downtown Seattle when the carbon fiber fork of her bicycle (which attaches the frame...
On May 26, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arkansas delivered an opinion on spoliation in a case that may be of interest to subrogation professionals. The Court clarified the law of spoliation in Arkansas and held that a finding of bad faith is not required for a spoliator to receive an adverse jury instruction. The...