-
Minnesota Supreme Court Rules on Miller-Shugart Agreements and PCOH Limits
April 19, 2021
On April 14, 2021, the Minnesota Supreme Court released King’s Cove Marina, LLC v. United Fire & Cas. Co., providing guidance on the Products Completed Operations Hazard (“PCOH”) limit and on Miller-Shugart allocation. In the underlying liability case, the insured, Lambert, entered a Miller-Shugart settlement agreement with the liability plaintiff, King’s Cove. Lambert stipulated to a $2 million dollar judgment being entered against it to be collected from Lambert’s insurer, United Fire. King’s Cove then brought a garnishment action against United Fire, alleging all of the claims in the liability case were for covered damages, and that the Miller-Shugart settlement agreement was enforceable.
Read More
Download PDF
-
ACKSP Brief: Q&A Workers Compensation Liability for COVID-19 Vaccine Reactions
April 15, 2021
ACKSP Brief provides regular communications from our attorneys to keep you connected and updated on current legal issues and decisions that impact your businesses and claims handling.
Read More
-
ACKSP Brief: How and why to care about your employee handbooks
March 15, 2021
ACKSP Brief provides regular communications from our attorneys to keep you connected and updated on current legal issues and decisions that impact your businesses and claims handling.
Read More
-
Arthur Chapman celebrates Women in Construction week
March 12, 2021
Read More
-
ACKSP Brief: Q&A on recent first-party policy limits decision
February 26, 2021
ACKSP Brief provides regular communications from our attorneys to keep you connected and updated on current legal issues and decisions that impact your businesses and claims handling.
Read More
-
MN Supreme Court Ruling: Hall v. City of Plainview
February 15, 2021
The Minnesota Supreme Court offered a reminder to employers in its February 3, 2021 decision, Hall v. City of Plainview: carefully draft your employee handbooks and follow your own policies. If the handbook contains ambiguous disclaimers and concrete compensation policies, it can be enforced against the employer as a unilateral contract.
Read More
-
COVID-19 business interruption claims
February 4, 2021
Our attorneys are well-versed in handling and defending COVID-19 business interruption claims. Shayne Hamann, Steven Erffmeyer and Gregory Duncan are presently handling a case for IMT Insurance Company in the United States District Court – District of Minnesota. To date, they have obtained positive results for their client. Read more on the case here: https://bit.ly/3toiTQ6
Read More
-
Avoiding Legal Issues in Construction webinar
January 26, 2021
Construction Law attorney, Jonathon Zentner, joined Acuity Insurance to share insights on avoiding legal issues in construction. Tune in to hear more from Jon and others in this webinar.
Read More
-
Pre-Judgment Interest, When Added to Total Damages, Cannot Exceed First-Party Policy Limits
January 19, 2021
While 2020 was a year with more bad news than good, the Minnesota Court of Appeals offered something to celebrate when it released its decision in Else v. Auto-Owners Insurance Company in late-December. The Court’s decision, agreeing with Attorneys Tim Tobin and Marissa Linden of Arthur Chapman, holds that first-party insurance policy limits operate as a cap on pre-judgment (or pre-award) interest. While unreported, Else is a favorable outcome for insurers and is anticipated to have persuasive value in other first-party coverage matters as we head into the brighter days of 2021.
Read More
-
Victory at the North Dakota Supreme Court
January 8, 2021
Congratulations to appellate attorneys Jeff Markowitz and Steve Warner for a stellar win at the North Dakota Supreme Court. A commercial landlord tried to collect a windfall of more than $2,000,000 from their client. Arthur Chapman trial attorneys Mike Ryan, Jonathon Zentner, Corey Bronczyk, and Bradley Idelkope secured summary judgment against the claim, and Jeff and Steve defended the win on appeal. Great team effort.
Read More
Download PDF
-
Arthur Chapman announces Jeffrey M. Markowitz as shareholder
January 4, 2021
Arthur, Chapman, Kettering, Smetak & Pikala, P.A. has announced the election of Jeffrey M. Markowitz as shareholder at the firm.
Read More
-
Minnesota ABOTA Chapter Recognizes Sally Ferguson
December 15, 2020
Attorney, Sally Ferguson, was recognized at the ABOTA meeting last week for her contributions as 2020 President of the Minnesota ABOTA Chapter. She was recognized for her leadership and guidance through a difficult year as well as for her resourcefulness, ingenuity, and embodying stability and professionalism. Congratulations, Sally!
Read More
-
What the Construction Industry Needs to Know About the Executive Order that Goes Into Effect Today
November 20, 2020
The Executive Order also brings new regulations for the construction industry. COVID-19 Construction under Executive Order 20-99 explains the new requirements as follows:
Read More
-
Wisconsin case law challenges and latest trends webinar
November 19, 2020
On Thursday, November 19 at 12 p.m. Central time, attorneys from our Wisconsin team will share an update on recent case law and trends they are seeing in Wisconsin. If you’re a claims professional and interested in joining Lee Miller, Gregory Duncan, Allison Krueger, and James Ranheim on this one-hour webinar, email info@arthurchapman.com for a link to register.
Read More
-
‘Published’ and ‘Unpublished’ Revisited: A primer on changes wrought in the wake of Justice Lillehaug’s 2016 article on unpublished appellate decisions
November 2, 2020
A primer on changes wrought in the wake of Justice David Lillehaug’s 2016 article on unpublished appellate decisions.
Read More
Download PDF
-
American Arbitration Association Moving to a New Location
August 28, 2020
The American Arbitration Association will be moving to a new location as of September 14, 2020. Therefore, future denial of No-Fault benefits letters sent on and after September 14, 2020 must include the new address. Here is sample language for your denial letters with the required information pertaining to the American Arbitration Association office, and contact information for filing Minnesota No-Fault Arbitration.
Read More
-
Supreme Court Addresses Potential Intervenor's Standing
August 14, 2020
The Minnesota Supreme Court issued a ruling addressing the significance of a potential intervenor’s decision not to intervene when it received adequate and timely notice of its right to intervene in an employee’s pending proceeding. In Koehnen v. Flagship Marine Company, File No. A20-0053 (August 12, 2020), the Minnesota Supreme Court confirmed that pursuant to Minn. Stat. §§ 176.271, 176.291 and Minn. R. 1420.1850, subp. 3B, when a potential intervenor receives adequate and timely notice of its right to intervene but chooses not to intervene in an employee’s pending proceeding, it can be extinguished by the award on stipulation for settlement and cannot subsequently dispute the award.
Read More
-
Attorney Steven J. Erffmeyer named to MDLA Board of Directors
August 7, 2020
Arthur, Chapman, Kettering, Smetak & Pikala, P.A. is proud to share that Steven J. Erffmeyer has been named to the Minnesota Defense Lawyers Association Board of Directors.
Read More
-
Insurers Be Aware: Minnesota Supreme Court Decision on First-Party Bad Faith
August 4, 2020
On July 29, 2020, the Minnesota Supreme Court released Peterson v. Western National, expanding the scope of what can be first-party bad faith in Minnesota. In the case, Peterson claimed the $250,000 limits of her underinsured motorist (“UIM”) coverage, alleging that a whiplash injury from a motor vehicle accident caused severe headaches that required quarterly Botox injections (a relatively novel treatment). Western National’s last offer before trial was $50,000. A jury awarded Peterson damages over $1.4 million. After trial, Peterson amended her complaint to allege bad faith against Western National. The bad-faith claim was tried to the district court judge who awarded $100,000 in costs and $97,940.50 in attorney fees. Western National appealed.
Read More
-
Employers Take Note: Federal New York Judge Vacates Four FFCRA Rules
August 4, 2020
On August 3, a New York federal district court judge injected a great deal of uncertainty into COVID-19 paid-leave law. The Honorable Judge Paul Oetkein of the Southern District of New York vacated four Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) regulations in the U.S. Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) Final Rule. The court order impacts regulations that govern the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (“EFMLAEA”) and Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (“EPSLA”).
Read More