Watts Industries, Inc. v. Zurich American Insurance

Opinion

EPSTEIN, Acting P. J.

This suit involves an insurer’s duty to defend a policyholder who claims there is a possibility of coverage in an underlying suit. The plaintiffs and policyholders in this case are Watts Industries, Inc. (Watts) and James Jones Company (Jones), manufacturers of parts used in municipal water systems. In an underlying suit, various municipalities allege injury to their water systems and lead contamination of water flowing through the systems, resulting from substandard parts sold by Watts and Jones. During the years in which the parts were sold, Watts and Jones held…