This Essay tells the story of CGL insurance, from its origins late in the nineteenth century to its contemporary predicament. Unfortunately, the lessons of this story are more cautionary than hopeful. The legal system gave rise to the need for CGL insurance, but at times has affected it negatively; the insurance market has continually adjusted to legal intervention, though not always in the manner that might have been desired; and because forces far more powerful than legal doctrine now threaten CGL insurance, the potential for law to have a positive influence on the evolution of this form of coverage is open to serious question.
Citation
Kenneth S. Abraham, The Rise and Fall of Commercial Liability Insurance, 87 Virginia Law Review, 85–109 (2001).