Mount Vernon Fire Insurance Co v. Visionaid, Inc.

THOMPSON, Circuit Judge.

This dispute between an insurance company and its insured has potentially wide-reaching implications for how liability insurers must conduct themselves in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The controversy here revolves around whether an insurer may be required to, as part of its defense of a claim against its insured, provide and pay for counsel to prosecute its insured’s counterclaim against the claimant.

In this case, the insured, VisionAid, Inc. (“VisionAid”), is a defendant in a state court suit filed by a former employee, Gary Sullivan, who alleges that his…