Insurance Coverage Litigation Lawyer & Attorney : Rivkin Radler Law Firm : Long Island, New York

According to the July 19, 2007 L.A. Times, the Archdiocese's insurers will pay $227 million of the $660 million sexual abuse settlement.  Amazing.  If the policies were subject to standard "occurrence" language and intentional act limitations it would seem that several bars to coverage might apply.  Clearly, the acts were intentional.  The injuries would also be "expected", if not intended.  Settling insurers were undoubtedly concerned about a policyholder-friendly court ignoring fundamental restrictions on coverage.

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Yesterday, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles confirmed that it will pay $660 million to settle sexual abuse claims by 508 people.  It will be interesting to see additional information concerning the insurance aspect of this settlement.  The report in today's New York Times (7/16/07) indicates that the church will pay $250 million, and the remaining $410 million will be paid by Catholic religious orders and insurers.  I wonder exactly how much the insurers are paying and the extent to which insurance coverage defenses (e.g., no "occurrence" and intentional conduct exclusion) discounted the coverage.

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