Duty to Defend

Courts that have interpreted indemnification provisions that included the duty to defend have explained that this means the consultant must defend its client (pay legal fees on behalf of its client) as the litigation is ongoing — and that it cannot wait until the conclusion of the litigation to determine whether it is found to have negligently performed services and therefore owe a separate duty to indemnify. The courts see the duty to defend and the duty to indemnify as two separate and unique duties.


ConstructionRisk articles relating to Duty to Defend are below.

No Duty To Defend under CPL Policy for Natural Gas Pipe Explosion

By J. Kent Holland, Esq. and James N. Rhodes, Esq.ConstructionRisk Counsel, PLLC Published on IRMI.com A Wisconsin appeals court found that an insurer's duty to defend under a contractors pollution liability (CPL) policy was not triggered by an explosion caused when a...

The Unrelenting Tide of the Duty to Defend

By Brian K. Stewart, Esq. and Kevin J. Engelien, Esq.– Collins Collins Muir & Stewart, LLP.  The immediate contractual duty to defend, once thought by some to be isolated to the “not so golden anymore” state of California as a result of two important court...

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