9th Circuit: Insurer Has Duty To Defend Against Product Disparagement Claims

(January 30, 2017, 1:34 PM EST) -- PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 27 affirmed a lower federal court’s judgment against an insurer on an insured’s breach of contract and bad faith claims, finding that the insurer has a duty to defend its insured against two underlying product disparagement lawsuits brought by competitors (Millennium Laboratories, Inc. v. Darwin Select Insurance Co., No. 15-55227, 9th Cir., 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 1533)....