In the Fall of 2006, Loeb & Loeb attorney Peter S. Selvin, a member of the Board of Governors of the Los Angeles chapter of the Association for Business Trial Lawyers ("ABTL") wrote a thorough and timely article on the availability of insurance coverage to settle business tort litigation, a short excerpt of which we publish here with a link to the full article.    


Lawsuits involving business or commercial disputes often trigger the coverage provisions of standard form Commercial General Liability ("CGL") policies.

In lawsuits involving claims of infringement, misappropriation or the violation of the right of privacy, the key portion of a CGL policy is the "personal injury" or "advertising injury" coverage found in Coverage B of the current CGL policy form [Insurance Services Office Commercial General Liability Insurance Policy Form, Section I Coverage B (2001)]. That language provides as follows:

a. We will pay those sums that the insured becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of "personal and advertising injury" to which this insurance applies. We will have the right and duty to defend any "suit" seeking those damages…

b. This insurance applies to "personal and advertising injury" caused by an offense arising out of your business but only if the offense was committed in the "coverage territory" during the policy period.

This article explores the scope of, and recent developments concerning, this aspect of CGL coverage. Practitioners should note that coverage for business torts may also be provided under Coverage A of CGL policies. See, e.g., Ericsson, Inc. v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 423 F. Supp. 2d 587 (N.D. Tex. 2006) (class action claims against cell phone manufacturer for injuries caused by radio frequency radiation fall within Coverage A for "bodily injury"); Prime TV, LLC v. Travelers Ins. Co., 223 F. Supp. 2d 744 (M.D. N.C. 2002) (insurer required to defend insured in class action suit because sending unsolicited faxes constituted "property damage").

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