Calfee Insurance Coverage Attorney Tae Andrews Quoted in Law360 Insurance Authority Article "Policyholder Attorneys See Calif. Smoke Case as Boon for LA"

Mentioned and Quoted

Calfee Insurance Coverage Senior Counsel Tae Andrews was quoted in the February 6, 2025, Law360 Insurance Authority article, "Policyholder Attorneys See Calif. Smoke Case as Boon for LA," which reviewed a January 10 California federal court decision that drew a connection between smoke to asbestos but differentiated smoke from viruses from an insurance coverage perspective. The "decision added to case law holding that smoke can cause the type of damage required to trigger business income coverage," but it rejected the insurance company's argument "that the history of pandemic coverage case law should help instruct a ruling against a smoke-damaged eatery."

In an interview with reporter Eli Flesch, Tae noted that the California court cited a pandemic-coverage litigation case, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Association v. Great American Insurance Co. The 2016 ruling held that "a performing arts group was entitled to coverage for lost profits because of poor air quality by nearby wildfires and was viewed by policyholder attorneys as a ruling that could help their clients in pandemic litigation."

Tae stated that the "Oregon Shakespeare Festival [decision] and its ilk are still alive and well, at least for the time being."

Read the full Law360 Insurance Authority article.

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