May 15, 2025
A Tenth Circuit ruling that a New Mexico property owner wasn't owed a defense for underlying contamination litigation because of separate, unambiguous absolute pollution exclusions in its policies was no surprise, policyholder attorneys said, but a broad reading of the exclusions still gives them pause.
May 08, 2025
A New Mexico property owner urged the Tenth Circuit to rethink its ruling that separate pollution exclusions in its commercial general liability policies entirely removed two insurers' duty to defend underlying environmental contamination claims, arguing the appeals court overlooked a significant principle under settled New Mexico insurance law.
April 23, 2025
A Tenth Circuit panel determined Wednesday that absolute pollution exclusions in insurance policies unambiguously prevented a New Mexico property owner from obtaining coverage for underlying contamination litigation, reversing a decision by a district court and saying that court erred "in all key respects."
July 18, 2024
Insurance experts are keeping their eyes peeled on a number of pending commercial general liability cases, including a potential ruling from the Third Circuit on the duty to defend a hotel accused of participating in sex trafficking and a Tenth Circuit decision on the application of an absolute pollution exclusion. Here, Law360 looks at the general liability cases to watch in the second half of 2024.
May 20, 2024
The Tenth Circuit said there were "good arguments on both sides" of an appeal at oral arguments Monday over whether absolute pollution exclusions doomed a New Mexico property owner's quest for defense coverage of underlying contamination litigation, in a case that could set the tone for insurance battles in the state.