75 Cal. App. 4th 739 - Commerce v. Chubb’s Empirical Analysis
1999
Citation profile
2 federal appellate · 2 district · 20 state decisions
Relationships
Relies on 2 Cal. 4th 1254 - Bank of the West v. Superior Court · 11 Cal. 3d 574 - Hurtado v. Superior Court · Fireman's Fund Insurance v. Maryland Casualty Co. · 27 Cal. 3d 359 - Signal Companies, Inc. v. Harbor Ins. Co. · 6 Cal. 3d 496 - Argonaut Insurance v. Transport Indemnity Co.
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 42 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““Escape” clauses came to be so named because they permit an insurer to make a seemingly ironclad guarantee of coverage, only to withdraw that coverage (and thus escape liability) in the presence of other insurance. When ‘excess only clauses are found in primary liability policies, they are treated the same way as escape clauses. Because these types of provisions are disfavored, courts have developed a method of overriding them—When two or more , applicable policies contain such clauses, both liability and the costs of defense should ordinarily be prorated according to the amount of coverage afforded. The reason for this rule is that the conflicting provisions are deemed essentially irreconcilable; if .given effect competing clauses would strand an insured between insurers disclaiming coverage in a manner reminiscent of Alphonse and Gaston.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage“[t]heir respective obligations flow from equitable principles designed to accomplish ultimate justice in the bearing of a specific burden. As these principles do not stem from agreement between the insurers, their application is not controlled by the language of their contracts with the respective policy holders.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“cannot be used to substantiate unexpressed intention and thereby vary clear and explicit contract provisions.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.