20 Years of Success!!

Gauntlett & Associates Launches a NEW WEBSITE as it Celebrates 20 YEARS on April 1st! 20 YEARS OF SUCCESS! Founded on April 1, 1995, the firm to date has secured judgments and settlements exceeding $200 million dollars on behalf of a range of corporate clients including over 20% of the Fortune 1000 and 10% of…

Law360

David Gauntlett of Gauntlett & Associates was recently mentioned in Law360 Q&A for his expertise in coverage law.  Leslie Thorne of Haynes & Boone was interviewed for a news and analysis article on insurance-related litigation. Haynes & Boone is a business, real estate, construction and insurance coverage litigation law firm. Ms. Thorne was asked “Outside…

Coverage for Implicit Disparagement Is Not Limited to Claims “Of and Concerning” the Claimant

The Northern District of California sided with California Court of Appeals case Charlotte Russe over conflicting appellate cases Total Call and Swift, finding potential coverage without requirement that the disparaging statement specifically refer to the goods, products, or services of the claimant. Recently, the Northern District of California weighed in on the divergent opinions of the…

Implicit Disparagement Claim Ruling In Trade Dress Infringement Lawsuit Clarifies That Purported Conflict In California Law May Be Less Than Meets The Eye

In Michael Taylor Designs, Inc. v. Travelers Prop. Cas. Co. of Am., 761 F. Supp. 2d 904 (N.D. Cal. 2011), the district court determined that potential coverage arose in a trade dress infringement lawsuit where customers were steered to allegedly inferior, synthetic furniture products in a purported “bait and switch” scheme evidencing implicit disparagement.  In…

Coverage for Claims Asserted in a Wage & Hour Proceeding Under an Employment Practices Liability Insurance: The Beat Goes On

In a brief note posted to Agents of America (www.AgentsofAmerica.org), Joseph P. Monteleone, of Tressler, LLP commented on Gauntlett v. Illinois Union Ins. Co., No. 5:11-CV-00455 EJD, 2012 WL 4051218 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 13, 2012) (“Gauntlett II”) noting that Judge Davila refrained from an expansive interpretation of Illinois Union’s duty to defend. Review of that…

Commercial General Liability (“CGL”) Insurer Must Defend Suit Alone Under Atypical Director and Officer (D&O) Policy “Other Insurance” Provisions

Fieldston Prop. Owners Ass’n, Inc. v. Hermitage Ins. Co., Inc., 16 N.Y.3d 257, 945 N.E.2d 1013 (2011) The New York Court of Appeals, answering a certified question from the New York Appellate Division concluded that under the terms of Federal’s D & O policy “other insurance” exists which would cover the ‘loss’ arising from the…