Maryland Court Sides with Asbestos Defendant in Insurance Dispute Involving Horizontal Exhaustion Rule

BALTIMORE –– A Maryland federal court has sided with an asbestos defendant in an insurance dispute, saying that Porter Hayden Co.’s interpretation of the state’s horizontal exhaustion rule matches that of the court.

In the Jan. 2 order, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland disagreed with the insurers’ argument that because some claims were not subject to an aggregate limit, no excess insurance could be triggered.

Porter Hayden contends in the underlying declaratory action that National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pa., and American Home Assurance Co. did not fulfill their obligations to indemnify …