Slater

*1418 Opinion

Plaintiff Robert I. Slater (Slater), an attorney, appeals from summary judgment 1 entered against him and in favor of defendant Lawyers’ Mutual Insurance Company (LMIC), Slater’s professional liability insurer, on plaintiff’s complaint alleging LMIC breached its insurance contract and the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing in denying Slater coverage under the policy with respect to a legal malpractice action filed against Slater.

Factual and Procedural Background

In a complaint filed by Slater against LMIC in January 1989 for breach of written contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, he alleges that in April 1984, LMIC issued to him a professional liability insurance policy which policy was renewed for the period from April 15, 1985, to April 15, 1986, and then from April 15, 1986, to April 15, 1987; on February 26, 1987, Cesar Lopez filed in the superior court a complaint against Slater for legal malpractice; Slater was unaware of Lopez’s claim and the action until July 1, 1987, when he was served with the summons and complaint; on October 6, 1987, Slater requested in writing that LMIC provide him a defense to the…

I respectfully dissent.

In the past, most liability insurance policies were of the “occurrence” variety. Policies of this type protect the insured against any lawsuits that might ever arise out of any event which occurs during the policy period. In an effort to reduce their exposure to an unpredictable and lengthy “tail” of lawsuits filed years after the occurrence they agreed to protect against, insurance companies have shifted more and more to another basic type of policy—the “claims made” variety. The purest version of this type of policy *1425 protects insureds for any claims made against them during the policy period no matter how many years earlier the event generating the liability may have occurred.

In this case, we are asked to construe and apply a still more restrictive policy—the “claims made and claims reported” variety. Indeed, this case illustrates in a unique and dramatic fashion just how restrictive this kind of coverage is when the policy is construed strictly against the policyholder. Here the liability-generating event took place during the earlier policy period covered by this insurance company. Hence, there was no dispute about whether the “occurrence”…

(1) (See fn. 1.) Plaintiff Robert I. Slater (Slater), an attorney, appeals from summary judgment [1] entered against him and in favor of defendant Lawyers' Mutual Insurance Company (LMIC), Slater's professional liability insurer, on plaintiff's complaint alleging LMIC breached its insurance contract and the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing in denying Slater coverage under the policy with respect to a legal malpractice action filed against Slater.

In a complaint filed by Slater against LMIC in January 1989 for breach of written contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, he alleges that in April 1984, LMIC issued to him a professional liability insurance policy which policy was renewed for the period from April 15, 1985, to April 15, 1986, and then from April 15, 1986, to April 15, 1987; on February 26, 1987, Cesar Lopez filed in the superior court a complaint against Slater for legal malpractice; Slater was unaware of Lopez's claim and the action until July 1, 1987, when he was served with the summons and complaint; on October 6, 1987, Slater requested in writing that LMIC provide him a defense to the Lopez…