North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

The court rejects an insurer’s interpretation of the multiple claimant exception in G.S. § § 20-279.21(b)(4) because it would limit recovery by innocent passengers depending on whether they were riding with a negligent driver or an innocent driver. We affirm ...

Tagged with: Auto

We affirm the Court of Appeals’ decision (The uncontradicted evidence shows that the defendant-insurer acknowledged liability almost immediately and merely disagreed with the plaintiff-homeowners’ unsubstantiated valuation of the loss of the contents of their home. Based on the lack of ...

Tagged with: Homeowners

A subcontractor’s insurer wrongly relied on an inapplicable policy exclusion in refusing to defend against a suit by the subcontractor’s employee, who was severely injured at a worksite. The sub’s insurer must reimburse the contractor’s insurer for the settlement amount ...

General-liability insurers could enforce their policy limits as to completed-operations and products hazard claims against the insured stemming from decades-old asbestos exposure. Background This insurance-coverage dispute involves the applicability of two insurers’ policies to past, pending, and future asbestos-related bodily ...

Where (1) defendant William Creed fell asleep at the wheel of passenger/plaintiff Theodore Creed’s car, crashed into a tree, and caused serious injuries to Theodore; (2) William’s two liability policies each paid $100,000 to Theodore; and (3) defendant Nationwide Property ...

Tagged with: UIM

Holding: We reverse the Court of Appeals’ ruling for the reasons stated in Judge Tyson’s dissent (Plaintiff’s declaratory judgment action and claim for recovery of proceeds received by defendants from a second motorist, Brandon Robinson, could not and did not ...

Tagged with: UIM

USA Trouser, S.A. de C.V. v. Williams (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-078-18, 18 pp.) (John Tyson, J.) Appealed from the Business Court (James Gale, C.J.) N.C. App. Holding: The plaintiff-trade creditor sued a trade debtor and its directors, and plaintiff obtained ...

Tagged with: No Privity

American Reliable Insurance Co. v. Five Brothers Mortgage Co. & Securing, Inc. (Lawyers Weekly No. 004-006-18, 9 pp.) (Graham Mullen, J.) 3:16-cv-00159; W.D.N.C. Holding: The plaintiff-insurer need not defend defendant in an underlying lawsuit in which defendant is alleged to ...

Tagged with: CGL

Shearer v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. (Lawyers Weekly No. 002-005-18, 8 pp.) (Terrence Boyle, J.) 2:17-cv-00031; E.D.N.C. Holding: Plaintiffs allege that the current problems with their Kill Devil Hills home arose out of repairs made after Hurricane Irene. ...

Tagged with: NFIP

North Carolina Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. v. Lilley (Lawyers Weekly No. 012-009-18, 11 pp.) (Donna Stroud, J.) Appealed from Wake County Superior Court (A. Graham Shirley III, J.) N.C. App. Unpub. Holding: Even though building code changes prevent the ...

Tagged with: Homeowners