Rule 3-310 – Summary
Introduction Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 3-310 imposes on California lawyers ethical obligations to analyze potential conflicts of interest, make written disclosure to dual...
“No” – Insurer Denies All Coverage – MoL
Introduction When a policyholder asks a liability insurer for help with a plaintiff’s lawsuit, the insurer must promptly answer: “Yes”, “No”, or “Maybe”. A...
Dynamic Concepts Line of Cases
Introduction California case law has developed two distinct and incompatible lines of common law authority addressing whether an insurer that reserves its rights to...
Common Interest Doctrine
Introduction The common interest doctrine permits adversaries to share confidential information without waiving the attorney-client privilege or the work product doctrine. Whether plaintiffs or...
Genuine Dispute Doctrine
Introduction The genuine dispute doctrine provides a defense to a bad faith claim. An insurer that denies policy benefits because a genuine dispute exists...
Attorney’s Fees May Be Covered as Costs
Introduction Although attorney’s fees are not generally “damages” covered by a liability policy, as a matter of policy interpretation, some courts has held that...
Setoff
Introduction When two parties in a civil lawsuit have valid monetary claims against each other, the court may enter a net judgment by applying...
Legend
Dutytodefend.com has many draft documents that will soon be downloadable in Word, WordPerfect, and pdf. The following is a list of code words embedded...
Comparative Analysis of Attorney Ethical Rules
Introduction All attorneys owe fiduciary duties to all clients including undivided loyalty, independence of professional judgment, confidentiality, disclosure, and competency. In California, Rule 3-310...
Insurer-Policyholder Fiduciary-Like Relationship
Introduction The relationship between an insurer and its policyholder is the product of contract, but in the eyes of the law it is special....