Duty to Defend – Indemnification

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Selective Insurance Company of South Carolina v. Target Corporation

Case No.: 16-1669

Officials: FLAUM and KANNE, Circuit Judges, and MAGNUSSTINSON, District Judge.

Focus: Duty to Defend – Indemnification

Plaintiff-Appellant Selective Insurance Company of South Carolina (“Selective”) filed a declaratory judgment action, asking the district court to declare that it owed no duty to defend or indemnify Defendant-Appellee Target Corporation (“Target”) in a lawsuit initiated by customer Angela Brown, who sued Target after a fitting room door fell on her. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Target, finding that Target was an additional insured on a commercial general liability insurance policy (the “Policy”) that the door supplier, Harbor Industries, Inc. (“Harbor”), had with Selective. The district court further held that Selective had both a duty to defend and indemnify Target for the entire cost Target incurred settling the Brown litigation. Selective appealed the district court’s decision and, for the reasons that follow, we affirm.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.