Northern Insurance Company of New York, Plaintiff-Appellee-Cross-Appellant v. Allied Mutual Insurance Company, Defendant-Appellant-Cross-Appellee

EUGENE A. WRIGHT, Circuit Judge:

This is a dispute between two insurance companies over which one must pay the defense costs of a long since dismissed product liability suit. The two insurers present several issues:

1. When liability is transferred by operation of law under a theory of product-line successor liability, do policy benefits arising from insurance on the underlying risk transfer as well? If so, do these benefits include the right to a defense?

2. When two insurers share a common obligation to provide a defense, can one be obligated for defense costs incurred by the other before the…