Ameron International Corporation, Plaintiff and Appellant v. Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania…

Summary

The court held that a federal administrative adjudication before the IBCA qualifies as a "suit" under liability insurance policies that do not define that term. Because the proceeding required a complaint, involved a trial-like evidentiary hearing, and could result in liability and damages, it triggered the insurers' duties to defend and potentially indemnify Ameron. The court therefore reversed and remanded for further proceedings. Justice Kennard, concurring, would have overruled the earlier bright-line rule rather than merely limiting it.