Ill. property insurance causation rules follow ‘dominant’ or ‘concurrent’ path

Policyholder Perspective

By Stanley C. Nardoni

Stanley C. Nardoni practices in the insurance recovery group of Reed, Smith LLP. A graduate of DePaul University College of Law and former law clerk to an Illinois Supreme Court justice, he also holds an LL.M. in insurance law from the University of Connecticut School of Law. He welcomes comments to his columns at snardoni@reedsmith.com.

Posted December 23, 2021 11:19 AM

A new 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision predicts the Illinois Supreme Court would employ “the efficient-or-dominant-proximate-cause rule in the absence of contrary language” in a property insurance policy. In Mashallah, Inc. v. W. Bend Mut. Ins. Co., No. 21-1507, 2021 WL 5833488, at *4 (7th Cir. Dec. 9, 2021), the court quotes Bozek v. Erie Ins. Grp., 2015 IL App (2d) 150155, ¶¶ 22, 38, which said “it appears that Illinois favors” that rule but did not issue a holding on the point.Other Illinois state court …

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