Duty To Defend - A 50 State Survey was prepared in 2007 by the Insurance Industry Group of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP.

Duty To Defend contains a survey of the law of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia on an insurer’s duty to defend a lawsuit against its insured and related topics. Each state entry includes a discussion of the scope of the duty to defend in that state and of the test employed by the state to determine whether the insurer owes such a duty. The state entries also include discussions of whether the insurer may defend pursuant to a reservation of rights and the implications of doing the same, including conflicts of interest which may be created; whether a declaratory judgment action may be brought to determine the insurer’s rights and obligations under the policy; and the consequences of the insurer’s failure to defend where it has an obligation to do so.

To obtain further information about an insurer's duty to defend, please contact a member of the firm's Insurance Industry Group or your regular Hinshaw attorney.

This survey has been prepared by Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. It is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship.