Declaratory judgment action filed on Bill Cosby defamation lawsuit

My favorite Boston news source, Universal Hub, has posted about a declaratory judgment complaint filed by Bill Cosby's insurer with respect to the defamation allegations against him. 


As is well-known, the plaintiffs in the underlying suit allege that Cosby gave them roofies and then raped them while they were unconscious.  Because the statute of limitations has expired on the sexual assault charges themselves, the underlying plaintiffs have alleged that Cosby defamed them by denying their allegations. 


Cosby's homeowners' policies and excess policy, all issued by AIG, provide coverage for personal injury, which includes defamation.


In the lawsuit just filed, AIG, seeks a declaration that coverage is excluded because the defamation claims were claims for personal injury "arising out of" actual, alleged or threatened sexual misconduct, molestation or harassment. 


It is well-settled under Massachusetts law that "arising out of" denotes an intermediate causation, more than causation-in-fact but less than proximate cause. 


The complaint does not say whether AIG is currently defending Cosby under a reservation of rights.  If it is, one can expect that the strategy from Cosby's attorneys will be to stall on the declaratory judgment lawsuit, because if the eventual ruling finds no coverage the longer it takes to make that decision the more of Cosby's attorney's fees in the underlying suit get paid by AIG.  Even if AIG is not currently defending the underlying claim, Cosby's side is unlikely to be in a rush to have the DJ action decided.  Unlike most people, Cosby is presumably in a financial position to pay whatever attorneys' fees are incurred in defending the underlying suit; if he wins the declaratory judgment action he will be reimbursed for those fees.  If he files a counterclaim for breach of contract he'll get interest on those fees as well.