Skyles Law Group has won a great victory for their clients.
Their client, the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity has been involved in a defamation lawsuit for over a year. Their primary insurance company, State Farm Property and Casualty, from Bloomington, Illinois, filed a lawsuit in federal court stating that they did not have to cover Franklin Center due to exemptions in their policy.
Attorney James Skyles noticed that the State Farm exemptions and definitions were designed in a day and age where publishers still published exclusively in print. They were not designed for online publications. Finding this and other ambiguities in the contract, Franklin Center was able to argue successfully that due to the ambiguities, State Farm still has a duty to defend Franklin Center.
“This is a great victory for Franklin Center, it is an even bigger loss for State Farm. Because of the boilerplate language of the contract, State Farm may now have to review every Directors and Officers contract they have with their clients. This could cost them countless hours of work in order to correct the issues” said Attorney James Skyles. “More importantly, this case emphasizes the need for the insurance business, like most all other businesses, to take into account the means by which the internet has changed the nature of business, and the need for the legal profession to be at the forefront of ensuring the law takes into account these changes. This is exactly what Skyles Law Group does in its internet law practice.”
State Farm is expected to appeal its ruling, but Skyles expressed confidence that in the end any appeal will have the same result as the district court ruling.
For more information, contact
James Skyles, Esq
Skyles Law Group, LLC
200 E. Evergreen #121
Mount Prospect, IL 60056
847-749-3059