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N.C. Supreme Court Reverses Court of Appeals in NC Farm Bureau v. Dana

N.C. Supreme Court Reverses Court of Appeals in NC Farm Bureau v. Dana Calculation of UIM Limits Makes Sense Again 21 December 2021 Joe Fulton Adam Wood Back in September 2019, the NC Court of Appeals decided N.C. Farm Bureau v. Dana. You can find that post here. It was a significant decision about UIM Read More

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Defense Win! – MK Attorney’s Elizabeth Martineau & Tyler Williams Obtain Defense Verdict

Attorneys Elizabeth Martineau and Tyler Williams of Martineau King PLLC in Charlotte recently achieved a complete defense verdict in an alleged rear-end collision case tried before a jury in York County, South Carolina. The Plaintiff claimed he was rear-ended by the defendant, who was driving a large commercial truck, while the Plaintiff was sitting at Read More

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N.C. SUPREME COURT AFFIRMS LIMITATIONS ON RESIDENT-RELATIVE COVERAGE

28 December 2020 Joe Fulton This month, the N.C. Supreme Court gave insurance coverage lawyers a real holiday treat: a published policy interpretation decision. Not only that, we got a dissent from Justice Earls. The decision, N.C. Farm Bureau v. Martin (available from the Court here and to Lexis subscribers here), dealt with one of Read More

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South Carolina Cap on Punitive Damages: Statutory Right or Affirmative Defense?

On January 15, 2020, the South Carolina Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Garrison v. Target Corporation, and sent civil defense attorneys into a frenzy.  The landmark decision rocked the civil litigation world, as the three-judge panel held that the cap on punitive damages found in S.C. Code Ann. § 15-32-530 was an affirmative Read More

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The Collateral Source Rule in North Carolina: Hairston v. Harward

The collateral source rule is a substantive rule concerning damages.  It prohibits a plaintiff’s recovery from being reduced by some source “collateral” to the defendant.  What this means is that a defendant is generally not permitted to introduce evidence that the plaintiff has received compensation for his or her injuries from some source independent from Read More

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Multiple UIM Policies for One Claimant: Who Gets the Credit?

In underinsured motorists (“UIM”) cases in which more than one UIM insurer provides coverage, the insurers may dispute how the liability insurance credit should be apportioned among them. This situation comes up with some regularity when a UIM beneficiary is an insured under their own policy and is also an insured under a second policy Read More

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Liability Always, Usually, Often, Sometimes Rolls Downhill: Indemnity Problems in Construction Litigation

A sleek, mixed-use development in Raleigh offers its tenants a concierge service, private Juliet balconies, and common-area foosball tables.  Feet on the desk, the developer calls investor after investor with the same pitch on millennials’ taste for toys and luxury.  Fast-forward three year and five missed project deadlines, a general contractor looks up from the Read More

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Coverage Update: NC Court Of Appeals Upholds Application of Borrowed Servant Doctrine to Employee Exclusion

7 October 2019 Joe Fulton The North Carolina Court of Appeals recently released its opinion in State Farm v. Don’s Trash Company, Inc. (opinion available to Lexis subscribers here and from nccourts.gov here).  Although unreported, the case is worthy of note for a couple of different reasons.  The first and most significant is the Court’s Read More

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Petition for Discretionary Review Filed in N.C. Farm Bureau v. Dana

4 October 2019 Joe Fulton Recently, I wrote about the North Carolina Court of Appeals’ decision in N.C. Farm Bureau v. Dana. You can find that article here. Dana held, in essence, that where you have an underlying liability policy exhausted on a per accident basis,  UIM coverage must also be determined on a per accident basis Read More

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North Carolina Court of Appeals Limits Resident Relative Coverage. Judge Inman Dissents.

26 September 2019 Joe Fulton Various policy forms use slightly different language to bring resident-relatives within the definition of insureds.  The standard form personal auto policy issued in North Carolina does it by including the defined term “family member” within the definition of the term “insured.” In turn, the policy defines “family member” as follows: Read More

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