The Yaron Decision And Its Impact On Insurers

On July 5, 2011, the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas published its decision in Yaron, et al. v. Darwin National Insurance Company, et al., No. 502, a declaratory judgment coverage action brought by two policyholders against their professional liability insurers. The court, in an opinion authored by Judge Arnold L. New, granted summary judgment in favor of the insurers, holding that they were not obligated to pay the policyholders' defense costs in connection with an underlying action.

The Underlying Action and Associated Defense Costs

In 2010, Harisse Yaron (Yaron), president of the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' (PSPCA) board of directors, and Jodi Goldberg (Goldberg), a member of the PSPCA board of directors, along with others, were named as defendants in an action filed by six Pennsylvania dog breeders (the Myer action). Yaron and Goldberg claimed coverage under a "Not-for-Profit Organization Directors & Officers