A football field has only four corners. But, what if you compare two different fields? Now, you have eight corners. In this short example, a Virginia federal court compared only two documents, each with four corners, to decide an insurer had no duty to defend its insured.
A supplier/insured provided a chiller unit to a prime contractor. When the unit didn’t perform as expected, the prime sued the supplier/insured who then, in turn, sought defense and indemnity from the insurer. The court needed only two documents to support its conclusion:
(1) the complaint by prime against supplier/insured and
(2) the insurance policy between insurer and supplier/insured.
(Together, the four corners of each document totaled eight corners.)
To decide if an insurer has a duty to defend, a Virginia State or Federal Court may only look at the allegations in the complaint and the insurance policy to determine if a judgment against the insured will be covered by the policy. If there is a possibility of coverage, then the insurer must defend the insured.
Western World Ins. Co. v. Air Tech, Inc., Case No. 7:17-cv-518 (March 29, 2019)
Barbecue and Construction Contracts
While barbecue recipes can be short and simple, contracts can be long and complicated. Fundamentally, though, recipes are very much like contracts: what’s required, how much of each part/ingredient, in what order should they be assembled/added, when, and for how long?
Show Your Work
A mentor of mine once said that process and procedures can be more important than substance and results. Like solving a math problem, how you solve it is often more important than the answer itself. The same is true in resolving construction contract disputes with public owners.
Substandard is Not Defective
The government need not follow the industry standard. It can do less or more.
Hide, Seek, & Seek
Have you ever played hide and seek? If you are the seeker, do you win the game when you find the hidden person? Yes, of course! Unless, you’re a government contractor.
Contractor Schooled School
Have you ever done exactly what you were supposed to do, but it didn’t work and you were blamed anyway? Nevertheless, if contractors follow the owner’s plans and it still doesn’t work, the contractor may be without fault – this is as it should be.
Walk It Off, Keep Going
During a recent soccer game, my seven-year-old son took the ball squarely in the face. But, he walked it off and continued playing. Contractors must do the same with changes.
Are We There Yet?
Next time you close a deal, get the essential terms on paper and signed by all parties before it’s Miller Time.
Show Me the Money!
You told the guy to do the work, the work is done, and now it’s time for payment, right? But, you only told […]
Reasonable ≠ Ratio
“Circuit court litigation comes at a price, sometimes a heavy price.”
