The article quotes Miller & Zois attorney Ronald V. Miller, Jr. in this insurance coverage dispute in a toxic tort case dealing with the issue of when coverage is exhausted:
The ruling corresponds with the way most Maryland lawyers would have interpreted the rule, said Ronald V. Miller Jr. of Miller & Zois LLC in Glen Burnie. Miller also teaches insurance law at the University of Baltimore School of Law.
“I don’t think that Judge Blake is going down any wild paths here,” Miller said, adding that it would have been bad news for plaintiffs in the future if Blake had ruled against Porter Hayden.
“That would mean excess insurers could always get off,” Miller said. “I think if she had ruled otherwise, that would have set off more reverberations in that case. ”
In this 2014 case, Judge Catherine C. Blake rejected the insurers’ claim that, under Maryland law, all primary insurance must be exhausted, or paid out, before the coverage under an excess insurance policy kicks in. This issue is a leitmotif in toxic tort insurance coverage claims when there are multiple insurance companies on the risk over the period of toxic exposure.
You can find the entire Maryland Daily Record article here.