Will the DE Court of Chancery Pump ‘All-Sums’ into the New York Law of Allocation?

We are pleased to make available, at the link provided, a reprint of an article by Robert D. Goodman, Partner in the firm's Litigation Department and member of our Insurance Practice Group, together with associate Steve Vaccaro, discussing an important and controversial insurance coverage decision by the Delaware Court of Chancery in Viking Pump, Inc. v. Century Indemnity. The article, "A Viking on Choppy Waters: Will the DE Court of Chancery Pump 'All-Sums' into the New York Law of Allocation?," appeared in the January 2010 issue of The Insurance Coverage Law Bulletin.

Although the Viking Pump court stated that it was applying New York law, the decision arguably departed in significant respects from prior New York cases on such important insurance coverage issues as "trigger" of coverage, allocation of coverage among different policies, and the interpretation of "non-cumulation" and "other insurance" clauses in insurance policies.