Ian Dankelman
Ian Dankelman is a former federal judicial law clerk who is a fantastic attorney at Merlin Law Group. We were talking about how our firm could hire other judicial law clerks who want to help people and small businesses fighting insurance companies. He said that he received—and then showed me a letter from—an insurance defense firm out of Colorado, Wheeler Trigg, that he assumes sends out unsolicited offers to federal law clerks for jobs. Continue Reading
Death of a named insured and probate proceedings have insurance policy consequences. Insurance agents, probate attorneys, and personal representatives have to prepare to purchase or change policies so the correct parties are insured following death and probate. Continue Reading
In a recent case,1 a federal appeals court addressed the issue of whether fire damage to a vacant dwelling from an arsonist was considered distinct from vandalism, so as to not implicate an exclusion within a homeowners insurance policy. In that case, Wells Fargo Bank owned an insurance policy on an abandoned house that an arsonist set ablaze. The insured sued its insurer after the insurer refused to indemnify the insured for the loss, relying on a policy provision exclusion for damage caused by “vandalism or malicious mischief” after the property had been vacant for more than thirty consecutive days. Continue Reading
I currently have an hour and forty-five minute commute (until my house sells and I can move closer to the office). As you can imagine, listening to the same songs on the radio over and over can get old after a while. Thankfully, Mike Buonocore from our Red Bank office introduced me to the world of podcasts, and I stopped listening to the radio. I have since assembled my go-to political, fantasy football, sports/MMA, and mystery podcasts for the work commute. Continue Reading
Many insurance companies thought they would have to pay no more than $5,000 for each California wildfire claim but are ending up paying hundreds of thousands if not millions. Continue Reading
Holly Soffer
Holly Soffer is General Counsel to the American Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (AAPIA). Strangely enough, we met and started a dialogue about Insurance Coverage Gaps at a half-day leadership conference hosted by the National Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (NAPIA). Continue Reading
Steve Patrick is a guru for those estimating property insurance losses. He made a suggestion on Level The Playing Field, for a construction book, Markup & Profit: A Contractor’s Guide, Revisited. His suggestion caught my eye since Merlin Law Group keeps this work in our reference library. This book is an excellent reference which contractors, property loss estimators, and property loss adjusters can use to help when considering reasonable construction pricing. Continue Reading
In my last blog post, I wrote about the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Windridge of Naperville Condominium Association v. Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company.1 Continue Reading
Hurricane Katrina was a huge warning to me about the problem of underinsured homes. We represented hundreds of “slabbed” homes—those where the only thing left was a concrete slab. Virtually all of them were severely underinsured. Some may suggest that this is the most widespread coverage gap. Continue Reading
We recently were presented with a case involving a property insurance claim in Wyoming. The policyholder was upset, and his public adjuster had a long list of improper actions by the insurance company. Merlin Law Group attorney Jonathan Bukowski wrote a short article about this in, Wyoming Denied or Delayed Property Damage Claims.
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