Illinois Tool Works, Inc. v. ACE Specialty Insurance Company

2019 IL App (1st) 181945 (Ill. App., 2019)

Words & Phrases

Duty To Defend: Suit

Trial Judge

Moshe Jacobius

Appellate Judge

Cunningham

Holding

Insurer’s duty to defend a “suit” did not extend to a mediation of potential environmental claims in the hope of avoiding a “suit.”

Fact Summary

The plaintiff-appellant, Illinois Tools Works, Inc. (ITW), filed a declaratory judgment action in the circuit court of Cook County against the defendants-appellees, Ace Specialty Insurance Company, New Hampshire Insurance Company, and Zurich American Insurance Company1 (collectively, the insurers). ITW sought a declaration that the insurers had a duty to defend it from claims regarding environmental contamination. The circuit court granted partial summary judgment in favor of the insurers, and ITW filed this appeal. For the following reasons, we affirm the judgment of the circuit court of Cook County.

Back