Court Opinion

ID: 9841129
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-21 15:01:02.677401+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:40:07.506223
License: Public Domain

USCA11 Case: 22-10245    Document: 43-1     Date Filed: 09/21/2023   Page: 1 of 3

                                                  [DO NOT PUBLISH]
                                   In the
                United States Court of Appeals
                        For the Eleventh Circuit

                          ____________________

                                No. 22-10245
                          ____________________

       KVK-TECH, INC.,
                                                      Plaintiﬀ-Counter
                                                  Defendant-Appellant,
       versus
       NAVIGATORS SPECIALTY INSURANCE
       COMPANY,

                                                    Defendant-Counter
                                                    Claimant-Appellee.

                          ____________________

                 Appeal from the United States District Court
                    for the Southern District of Alabama
USCA11 Case: 22-10245      Document: 43-1      Date Filed: 09/21/2023     Page: 2 of 3

       2                      Opinion of the Court                  22-10245

                      D.C. Docket No. 1:21-cv-00286-KD-C
                           ____________________

       Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, ABUDU, and ED CARNES, Cir-
       cuit Judges.
       PER CURIAM:
               Following our careful review of the record, the parties’
       briefs, and with the benefit of oral argument, we affirm the judg-
       ment of the district court.
               The language of the insurance policies in this case required
       KVK-Tech, Inc. (“KVK-Tech”), an opioid manufacturer, to provide
       notice to Navigators Specialty Insurance Company (“Navigators”),
       an excess insurance carrier, when a covered claim was “first made”
       against it during the policy period or “as soon as practicable.” It is
       undisputed that KVK-Tech had notice of the first-made opioid law-
       suit against it on or before August 31, 2017—while the 2017-18
       Navigators policy was in effect. As the district court correctly
       found, KVK-Tech had thirty days from the expiration of the 2017-
       18 Navigators policy, i.e., until September 20, 2018, to provide no-
       tice of that claim against it to Navigators. It is also undisputed that
       KVK-Tech notified other excess carriers of other opioid lawsuits
       that were pending against it on June 25, 2019. Yet KVK-Tech failed
       to notify Navigators of any of the opioid lawsuits against it until
       January 27, 2020—despite having notice nearly three years earlier
       and notifying other excess carriers of the opioid lawsuits against it
       on June 25, 2019. In sum, KVK-Tech failed to provide timely notice
USCA11 Case: 22-10245    Document: 43-1    Date Filed: 09/21/2023   Page: 3 of 3

       22-10245             Opinion of the Court                     3

       to Navigators. Therefore, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district
       court.