Hartford Casualty Insurance v. J.R. Marketing, L.L.C.

Opinion

CUÉLLAR, J.

This court has long maintained that if any claims in a third party complaint against a person or entity protected by a commercial general liability (CGL) insurance policy are even potentially covered by the policy, the insurer must provide its insured with a defense to all the claims. (E.g., Horace Mann Ins. Co. v. Barbara B. (1993) 4 Cal.4th 1076, 1081 [17 *992Cal.Rptr.2d 210, 846 P.2d 792].) The insurer’s provision of an immediate, complete defense in such a “mixed” action, we have explained, is “prophylactically” necessary, even if outside of the policy’s strict terms, to…