Jul 12, 2018
In a two-part series, Jonathan Schwartz, the Illinois-based host of Timely Notice, discusses two recent Illinois cases penalizing insurers for breaching their duty to defend their insureds. Jonathan first breaks down the decision in Hyland v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance, where the Seventh Circuit analyzed the remedies available to the insured and/or its assignee in the event of a good faith breach of the duty to defend. While the result favored the insured, Jonathan explains why it should be considered a pyrrhic victory. In part two, Jonathan examines Rogers Cartage v. Travelers Indemnity, in which the Illinois Appellate Court mixed up the duty to defend and the duty to settle. Jonathan explains the flawed reasoning of Rogers Cartage and the ongoing trend of increasingly harsh consequences for insurers who breach their duty to defend.