Court Dismisses Two Suits Against Loss Adjusters

Mike Sanders obtained the dismissal of two suits against loss adjusters arising from their role in adjusting a water loss at a historically significant high-rise building in Dallas. The building's “boiler and machinery” carrier filed separate suits in Illinois state court and Texas federal court, alleging that the loss adjusters should have promptly put it on notice after another carrier retained them in connection with the loss, and that the delays had prevented mitigation efforts that would have decreased the loss. We removed the Illinois action to federal court and transferred the Texas action to the Northern District of Illinois, and the court dismissed both suits on the grounds that the insurer could not bring claims for purely economic loss under a tort theory alleging that the loss adjusters were negligent.