The Fifth Circuit certified questions to the Texas Supreme Court regarding BP's status as an additional insured under policies issued to Transocean. In Re Deepwater Horizon, Ranger Ins. , Ltd. v. Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling, Inc., 2013 U.S. App. Ct. LEXIS 18087. The Fifth Circuit determined in March that the polices, and…

  Again this year, my firm, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert, will host a film festival at the Honolulu Museum of Art from September 14 to 20, 2013. See details here.

   On tap for this year are the following films:

    "Hanna Arendt," September 14 at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; September…

   A gunshot killed one and injured others. Rejecting arguments for a multiple occurrence, the Alaska determined there was one occurrence despite several injuries. United Serv. Auto. Ass'n v. Neary, 2013 Alas. LEXIS 102 (Alaksa Aug. 16, 2013).

   The insured's teenage son fatally one friend and seriously injured another with one of his…

   The South Carolina Supreme Court determined there was no coverage for construction defect claims based upon the policy's exlcusions. Bennett & Bennett Constr., Inc. v. Auto Owners Ins. Co., 2013 S.C. LEXIS 170 (S.C. July 17, 2013).

   The general contractor was hired by a homeowner to remove synthetic stucco cladding and replace…

   The First Circuit held that the insurer was obligated to pay postjudgment interest pursuant to its policy until such time as policy limits were exhausted. Vazquez-Filippetti v. Cooperativa De Seguros Multiples De Puerto Rico, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 14251(1st Cir. July 15, 2013).

   Cooperativa's insured was found liable for striking a pedestrian…

   The federal district court determined the insurer had no coverage obligations for environmental damage when the injury in fact occurred long before the policy period. Alabama Gas Corp. v. Travelers Cas & Sur. Co., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS July 16, 2013).

   The predecessor of Alabama Gas Corp. manufactured gas on the property…

   Having previously decided that construction defect claims did not arise from an occurrence and were consequently not covered under Hawaii law, the Hawaii Federal District Court refused to dismiss the insured's second amended counterclaim alleging various claims for relief. Ill. Nat'l Ins. Co. v. Nordic PCL Construc., Inc., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108932…

   In an significant decision touching on a host of issues, the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA) overturned the circuit court and found numerous insurers had a duty to defend its insured for bodily injury and property damage caused by the 2006 breach of the Kaloko Dam on Kauai. C. Brewer and Co., Ltd. …

   In a decision authored by Judge Leslie E. Koybayashi, the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii followed its prior decisions that construction defect claims were not covered because such claims do not arise from an occurrence. Nautilus Ins. Co. v. 3 Builders, Inc., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88480 (D. Haw. June…