Casualty Insurance Fundamentals and Liability Concepts
The negligence formula
Every liability analysis starts with four elements: duty (reasonable person standard), breach, proximate cause and damages. Related doctrines to recognize: negligence per se (statute sets the standard), res ipsa loquitur (the thing speaks for itself), strict liability (products, abnormally dangerous activity), vicarious liability (employer for employee within scope), attractive nuisance, and assumption of risk. Defenses include comparative fault, assumption of risk and, where applicable, immunity.
Louisiana note
Louisiana follows pure comparative fault - a claimant's recovery is reduced by their own percentage of fault and is not barred at 50%. Joint and several liability is narrowed, so understand that each defendant generally pays its share absent special circumstances. Punitive damages are rare and generally uninsurable; the standard award is compensatory (special = medical and wage loss, general = pain, suffering, disability).
Policy mechanics
The insurer's duty to defend is broader than the duty to indemnify - defense is triggered by a potentially covered claim. Under standard liability and CGL forms defense costs are paid in addition to limits; under auto liability they are supplementary payments. A reservation of rights letter preserves the insurer's coverage defenses while it defends. Limits: per person, per occurrence, aggregate - a single event harming several people is one occurrence. Intentional acts, expected or intended injury, and damage to the insured's own property are excluded.
Traps
Legal liability vs. moral obligation (only legal liability is insured). The no-voluntary-payments condition. Consent-to-settle clauses. Subrogation where the insured caused much of the loss.
Rule of thumb: if the loss is not caused by an accident or continuous exposure, or the injury was intended, expect an occurrence/intentional-act exclusion.