(Editor's Note: This article has been contributed by StephenBrown, Carl Pernicone and Samuel Reich, attorneys at WilsonElser. Refer to the respective author bio pages forinformation about their practice areas and expertise.)
A liability policy imposes two separate and distinct duties uponan insurer: a duty to defend and a duty to indemnify. Theduty to defend requires that the insurer providelegal counsel to its insured in the event of a lawsuit, while theduty to indemnify requires the insurer to satisfya judgment entered against its insured. An insurer's duty to defendcan be triggered without activating the insurer's duty to pay for the loss. This is because all jurisdictions find theduty to defend to be greater than the duty to indemnify.
The Majority Rule
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