Illinois: Latest State to Declare Malicious Prosecution Claims Only Trigger Coverage in Effect During Arrest

In this era of sophisticated DNA testing, exonerations of incarcerated individuals have become increasingly commonplace. The ensuing malicious prosecution lawsuits have justifiably resulted in high verdicts and settlements. The key issue for many municipalities is whether coverage is triggered for these malicious prosecution claims, and under which policies of insurance. On November 21, 2019, the Supreme Court of Illinois, in Sanders v. Illinois Union Insurance Company, 2019 IL 124565, definitively determined that claims of malicious prosecution trigger coverage only under policies of insurance in …

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A Continuing Trend of Illinois State Courts Finding Trigger for Malicious Prosecution is Initiation of Prosecution — Not Termination of Proceedings

On April 21, 2015, we wrote about the Illinois Appellate Court Second District’s decision in Indian Harbor Insurance Co. v. City of Waukegan, 2015 IL App (2d) 140293 (Mar. 6, 2015). There, the Appellate Court followed its decision in St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co. v. City of Zion, 2014 IL App (2d) 131312, which held that only the date of conviction triggers malicious prosecution coverage. As we noted, this constituted a rejection of the Illinois Supreme Court precedent, Security Mutual

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Law Firm’s Policy Rescinded For Misrepresentation in Application

The Supreme Court of Illinois held that the insurer was entitled to rescind a law firm’s malpractice policy based on material misrepresentations in the firm’s renewal application. The main issue in this case was whether the policy could be rescinded despite one of the firm’s attorneys being unaware of the misrepresentation.

The appellate court had ruled that, under the innocent insured doctrine, the insurer was required to maintain coverage for the innocent partner despite the misrepresentation on the application when renewing the policy. This court …

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